Gemmus Dinosaurus
by Torotyrannus15
Summary: Steven and the Crystal Gems are in for a surprise when they meet four new Gems, but these Gems are very different from the other's we've seen, except maybe Steven himself. Episodic format, takes place before some recent episodes, mentions of blood in first chapter.
1. Chapter 1: Dawn of the DinoGems

**Hi, everybody! In honor of Stevenbomb 4, coming in only TWO DAYS, I have finally started this fanfic LONG in the works. In retrospect I really should have started this during the hiatus. The story sort of branches off from the main plot, taking place before some of the recent episodes. Let's just say for now it's set after _Catch and Release_ because I _love_ Tiny!Peridot! Also, kind of spoiler, I'm bring Lapis and Jasper back. Oops!**

 **Now, let us delve into the prologue.**

* * *

The time was over 65 million years ago, during the age of the dinosaurs. The great scaly beasts dominated every part of the planet, but at the peak of the dinosaurs reign, something came that ended it abruptly, and explosively. Something that came from outer space.

The Cretaceous sun was beginning to fall below the horizon in early twilight, turning the sky bright shades of red, orange, and gold. Above, the twinkling stars had already appeared, adding to the already breathtaking beauty of the sunset. At the edge of a lush, green forest, a huge, brownish green creature wandered towards a grove of green ferns, it's great footsteps causing the ground to tremble in its wake. Sharp, russet plates formed twin rows down it's back, and its tail ended in four razor-sharp spikes jutting out sideways. This great beast was a proud male Stegosaurus, and as he approached the grove for an evening feeding, he looked up in wonder at the illuminated sky.

Upon reaching the grove, the Stegosaurus bent his small head down to eat, groaning in pleasure at the ferns' rich, healthy taste. The Stegosaurus then heard more footsteps approaching. He quickly turned around to see what was coming near, brandishing his deadly thagomizer in case it was a predator, especially a monstrous Tyrannosaurus rex. Thankfully, it was not; it was only a pair of fellow herbivores, a Triceratops and an Iguanodon, also come for an evening snack.

The three dinosaurs each found a place to browse, giving each other a wide berth, hoping to avoid any unnecessary confrontation. However, unknown to them, the peaceful herbivores were being stalked. Hidden in the tree cover not 100 yards away from where the three dinosaurs were browsing, another dinosaur watched them. A carnivore. More specifically, a massive Tyrannosaurus rex.

The T. rex had its eyes set straight on the herbivores ahead, intending to make a kill of at least one of them that evening. The huge predator slowly inched closer to its targets. The rex hadn't been able to get a decent meal in days, due to being driven from his territory by a pack of younger, more aggressive Tyrannosaurs. Closer, closer. He aimed for the Iguanodon, figuring it would be the easiest to bring down, and decided to avoid the Stegosaurus and at least be wary of the Triceratops if he could. A single, well-placed thrust from those horns or swing of that tail could end his hunting days forever, not to mention the Triceratops' hide-full of sharp quills. Closer, closer.

The Iguanodon suddenly heard a noise coming from the forest, and quickly jerked his head up to see if a threat was nearby. The T. rex immediately halted in his stealthy advance, careful not to be detected. When the Iguanodon lowered his head to resume his meal of ferns, the T. rex began working his way towards his quarry again. The wind was in his favor, blowing the scent of his prey toward his nose, and his scent away from them. Closer, closer. He was so close to the herbivores now that he could almost hear the beating of their hearts. If all went well, one of those hearts would be silenced permanently this evening.

Suddenly, the Stegosaurus snorted and jerked his head up in alarm. The Triceratops and Iguanodon were alerted as well and looked up from eating. The Stegosaurus had not detected the Tyrannosaurus nearby, however. The Stegosaurus could sense that something was approaching, but he had no idea what it meant. The other dinosaurs, including the rex, could feel it too. Something was coming. Something big. But the dinosaurs, with their relatively small brains and basic way of thinking, could not hope to comprehend it.

The T. rex shook these thoughts from his head. He had the perfect advantage in front of him. It was now or never.

With a thunderous roar that shook the treetops, the Tyrannosaur charged, exploding out of the forest towards the three herbivores.

The Stegosaurus roared in alarm, alerting the others, and quickly turned his bulky form sideways in a defense position. The Triceratops grunted and stood strong and stalwart, his long brow horns pointed at the carnivore. Lastly, the Iguanodon reared up on his hind legs and honked, baring the sharp, dagger-like spikes on his thumbs, the one weapon his kind possessed. If he was to die tonight, he would not run from his fate.

The T. rex lunged and snapped his jaws at the Iguanodon, who hastily dodged and swung his arm at the carnivore, grazing his snout and drawing a streak of crimson blood. The T. rex growled and lunged again, but was rammed by the Triceratops. The rex hastily regained his balance and charged the Trike, who grunted and did the same. Swiftly evading the Triceratops' horns, the T. rex clamped his jaws onto its frill, and the Triceratops groaned in pain.

The saw the Stegosaurus swing his tail, and released the Triceratops, rearing back seconds before the deadly spiked tail slashed the air where he'd been standing. The Stegosaurus snorted and pounded his foot against the ground to intimidate the theropod, but the T. rex roared and warily circled the three herbivores. The Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Iguanodon herded together as the huge beast glared at them, snarling.

Suddenly, the T. rex darted forward in a mock charge, dispersing the frantic herbivores for but a second. But a second was all he needed. The rex charged and managed to land a bite on the Iguanodon's back, and it honked and bellowed in pain, thrashing wildly as the rex's teeth were plunged into his hide.

Before the rex could land the killing blow, a huge force slammed into him, and thorn-like quills pierced his side, making him let go of the Iguanodon. The T. rex collapsed to the ground and the Triceratops snorted triumphantly. The rex growled in anger, and swiftly ducked his head as the Stegosaurus' tail nearly tore out his eye. The plated dinosaur snarled, as did the T. rex, pushing himself back to his feet using his small arms(which were remarkably strong, BTW).

The rex roared, then the Iguanodon charged and rammed the T. rex in the side, and slashed at him with his thumb spikes before the rex could retaliate. The Iguanodon slammed the rex again with his shoulder, and the T. rex lunged to snap at the Iguanodon's head, when he was rammed again by the Stegosaurus, disorienting him.

The rex hastily regained control and snapped at the fleeing Iguanodon, then turned back and lunged at the Stegosaurus, hitting his enormous head into the herbivore's much smaller one. The Stego lost his balance and crashed to the ground, but before the rex could tear open his stomach, the Triceratops rammed the T. rex again, knocking his head back and forcing the rex to step off to stay balanced. The Stegosaurus struggled to get back up, and grunted at the predator beside the Triceratops and the Iguanodon.

Growling in rage, the T. rex stood up, facing down the three powerful herbivores, and all four roared at the top of their lungs, before an earsplitting screech pierced the air, and something streaked across the sky in a blaze of fire, crashing with ground-shaking impact not far from where the dinosaurs were standing.

From the explosion, a red shard shot towards the dinosaurs faster than a bullet, landing squarely between the T. rex's eyes, the force of the impact throwing the six-ton dinosaur into the air with a screaming roar of agony. The rex crashed into the dirt 20 yards away, knocked unconscious with the shard embedded in his skull.

The Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Iguanodon first stared on in awe at what they'd just seen, before slowly turning to the strange crash site. After looking at one another first in uncertainty, the Stegosaurus was the first to approach the smoking crater. Reluctantly, the Triceratops and Iguanodon soon followed, wary of what might come out of the crater.

The dinosaurs soon reached the edge of the crater, and as the smoke cleared, shapes began to appear. The crater was filled with jagged, shattered pieces of some kind of green object, made of shiny, polished stone. Many of the broken parts were on fire, but this fire was a sickly green, rather than the red and orange tongues of flame the dinosaurs knew.

The smoke cleared further, and now the dinosaurs could clearly see, in the center of the crater, four strange figures lay, like nothing the dinosaurs had ever seen before.

The Stegosaurus carefully slid down the crater edge, wanting to get a closer look at these odd creatures that fell from the sky. They all were much, much smaller than the dinosaurs, and they had no tails. They all had strangely-shaped forelimbs, with five fingers but no claws; they must've been bipeds, then. From the odd creatures' heads hung manes of what looked like a much longer version of the fur that covered the small mammals that darted about under the dinosaurs' feet, so the creatures must've been mammals. They had no feathers or scales, so they weren't dinosaurs, that much the Stegosaurus was sure of.

The Triceratops and the Iguanodon soon followed into the crater, and began sniffing the strange creatures, trying to figure out what they were. One was short and thickly-built, with light bluish-green skin, and a light blue and darker green hide. Another was taller but very skinny, with primarily dark blue skin color. The dark blue one lay beside a much larger, thickly-built dark red creature, the biggest of the four. The Stegosaurus inspected the fourth one; it had dark skin and was fairly big compared to the others, though not as muscular as the red one. It had long, flowing golden hair, and it wore some kind of loose, dark-yellow garment. Carefully, the Stegosaurus flipped the gold-haired creature onto its back, and noticed that it had a large, topaz-colored gemstone embedded in its chest.

The Stegosaurus looked down at the strange, yet oddly captivating being, when it suddenly moved, and the Stegosaurus froze as it opened its eyes and stared directly at him.

For several moments everything was silent, when out of nowhere a voice shrieked,

"Topaz! Look out!" And before he could turn his head, the Stegosaurus was hit square in the jaw by a tremendous blow, knocking him away from the yellow-haired creature and nearly toppling over. The Stegosaurus groaned at the ache in his skull, trying to shake it off, and looked up to see the short, bluish-green creature glaring at him from beside the gold-haired one. She had short, green hair and her eyes were covered by a clear substance. Solid water was the only thing that came to the Stego's mind. Her right hand was heavily armored, and she was brandishing it like a weapon. How on earth could something hardly a tenth of his size possibly deal such a blow!?

"Are you okay, Topaz? That thing didn't hurt you, did it?" The bluish-green creature said to the gold-haired one, apparently named Topaz, as the armor on her hand vanished, revealing a turquoise gemstone on the back of it.

"I'm fine, Turquoise." Topaz replied, standing up. The Stegosaurus wisely moved away from the two gem-creatures, for fear of being hit again. The other two gem-creatures were awakening as well. First was the thin dark blue one. She had a lighter blue hide with a loose part that hung down from her waist, covering the back of her legs, and she had very dark blue hair with pigtails hanging down and framing her face. The Triceratops thought she was quite elegant-looking. Lastly was the large, red Gem; she had long, voluminous red hair tied up in a large ponytail, and her hide was darker red with black about the legs and waist. The blue one had two dark blue gem on her elbows, and the red one's gem was on her forehead.

"Is everyone alright?" Topaz called to the others.

"I think we're ok." The red one replied, rubbing her aching head. She then turned to see the Triceratops sniffing her. "Hey! Cut that out!" She then punched the Trike on the beak, making him growl and move away. It was a hard punch, at least for the Triceratops. Suddenly, the red Gem's stance faltered, and her form seemed to be momentarily shifting, if it was possible.

"Onyx!" The lanky blue Gem cried. "Your Gem is cracked!" The red Gem, evidently called Onyx, looked up at the ovular Gem on her forehead; sure enough, there was a large shard missing, cracked down the middle. The Iguanodon noticed this too, and looked back at the still unconscious T. rex, the steaming shard lodged between his eyes.

"Relax, Azurite." Onyx reassured the smaller Gem. "I'll be fine. It's just a crack; you don't have to worry about me all the time."

"But what if something happens to you?" The blue Gem, Azurite argued, clearly stressed out. "I-I don't know what I'd do!" The red Gem, Onyx, delicately took Azurite's small hand in her much bigger one, and gave her a soft smile.

"Nothing's going to happen to me. I'll make sure of that." At this moment of tenderness Azurite blushed aquamarine.

The Stegosaurus was intrigued by how these two Gems acted around one another. It seemed akin to that of a mated pair. The Stego had trouble pondering this, since it didn't appear either of them were male, but then again, who was he to judge?

"Wait!" Turquoise said, getting both the Gems' and the dinosaurs' attention. " _Where's Serpentine?"_ The other three Gems hastily looked around for whoever Serpentine was, but found nothing.

"Oh no." Topaz whimpered. "Please…" The Gems seemed to be in great distress, and the dinosaurs had little idea what to do. They didn't see any other Gems nearby, and thought if they should help. Then Onyx turned to them, a scowl on her face.

"I don't what you things are," She growled angrily, stepping towards the herbivores. "But you'd better not have hurt Serpentine, or so help me-" The Stegosaurus then grunted, interrupting Onyx's threat. He had gone off to search for this Serpentine, and returned carrying a dark green, rectangular gemstone in his mouth, which he'd found under some wreckage.

The Gems stood frozen as the dinosaur approached, offering the gemstone. Topaz came forward, the others stepping out of her path. The Stegosaurus grunted and delicately dropped the gem into Topaz's outstretched hands. It was mostly dark green, but a film of black appeared to be invading the greenness.

Not caring about the dinosaur standing in front of them, the other Gems hurriedly surrounded Topaz, staring with worried glances at the rectangular stone.

"Is she ok?" Turquoise asked, worry in her tone.

"What's wrong with her Gem?" Azurite asked, even more concerned. Topaz stared, wide-eyed at the Gem in her hands.

"I...I don't...know." She muttered. The Stegosaurus groaned, not knowing why but concerned for the Gems. The Triceratops and Iguanodon came up beside him, looking down at the small Gem. The Gems looked up at the three dinosaurs, and only now did they seem to realize they were in the company of huge alien creatures.

"What are those things?" Turquoise wondered aloud, staying close to Topaz. The Stegosaurus slowly approached the Gems, dipped his head, and uttered a deep rumble, a dinosaur custom that meant he was a friend, not an enemy. The Gems, however, didn't seem to understand the peaceful gesture, and continued to stare.

"I doesn't matter what these creatures are," Topaz announced to the others. "What matters now is that we find out where we are, and if we're safe." Suddenly, another scream filled the sky. The Iguanodon looked up, and honked in distress. The dinosaurs and Gems looked up to see another, much bigger flying object descend from the sky straight towards their location.

The dinosaurs cried out in fear and confusion, but the Gems seemed to know what was coming, and stood to face it. The dinosaurs and Gems stood frozen as a huge Gem ship, bigger than even a titanosaur, landed before them.

The dinosaurs backed away, and were well contemplating running for their lives, but for some reason they didn't want to leave the Gems. They watched as a panel slid up at the ship's front, an eerie white light emanating from the opening. Footsteps signaled the arrival of another Gem from within, and then a ramp deployed from the ship opening to the ground. The dinosaurs backed off more, but the Gems stood resilient, not afraid. Topaz clutched Serpentine's gem in her hand, staring down the Gem who stepped down the ramp in front of them.

"Topaz, Azurite, Red Onyx, Turquoise, Serpentine." The tall, muscular yellow Gem said coldly. The dinosaurs guessed from her attire that she was very high-ranking. "The five of you stand guilty of treachery, insubordination, and rebellion against the Diamond Authority. If you surrender now, they _may_ consider sparing you."

"Why don't you come over here and make us, Citrine!" Red Onyx(or just Onyx, as Azurite called her) replied. This Citrine was of similar build to Red Onyx, but was yellowish orange with a burnt orange outfit, a yellow diamond insignia decorating the chest, as well as an auburn cape. She had short, orange hair, and her gem was placed on her palm. She didn't look nearly as trusting as the Gems the dinosaurs had met.

"Citrine," Topaz announced. "What Homeworld is doing is wrong. Even if you destroy us, others will take our place inevitably. Not you, nor the Diamonds can destroy what is right. We will never surrender to the likes of you." Citrine displayed little if any reaction to this bold statement, she merely huffed like a fly was bugging her.

"Very well then." Citrine spat at them. "Enjoy being shattered." Suddenly, dozens of huge soldier Gems exited the ship behind Citrine, all Black Onyxes, Red Onyx observed, scowling. "Be sure to contain them once they're poofed." Citrine ordered, completely calm. The soldier Gems charged, brandishing their weapons, and the five rebellious Gems did the same; Topaz drew a spiked mace on a whip-like chain, which she swung with amazing accuracy. Turquoise summoned armored gauntlets on both her hands, cracking her knuckles. Azurite pulled a pair of sabers from her Gems and took a fighting stance, and lastly Red Onyx, who couldn't summon her weapon due to her Gem being cracked, stood tough with her huge fists tensed. Then the fight began. Holding Serpentine's gem tightly, Topaz led her Gems in likely their last stand.

Wisely, the Stegosaurus roared and hastily ran from the ensuing battle, the Triceratops and Iguanodon quickly turned tail and followed, equally afraid. The Stegosaurus looked back; he didn't want to leave the Gems in a clearly outnumbered fight, nor did the other two, but they knew they stood little chance against the otherworldly strength the Gems had displayed on them.

Only now did the Tyrannosaurus finally regain consciousness. But as he did, Red Onyx stumbled on the battlefield.

"Onyx!" Azurite cried, clashing swords with another enemy. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Red Onyx struggled to stand, shaking the sudden indescribable feeling in her gem from her mind. She had to focus.

Just as Red Onyx did, the T. rex had a faint feeling in his head. Or was it in his head? As he shakily stood up, the rex looked between his eyes, seeing the shard from Red Onyx's gem lodged into his skin. However, he didn't look at it with confusion. He knew what it was. In fact, he knew quite a bit more now than before. The shard embedding itself in his skull had massively jarred his brain, in more ways than one.

The rex looked out, seeing the battle. Topaz, Turquoise, Azurite, and Red Onyx were losing. The rex roared and charged into a run, thundering straight towards the Gems.

The Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Iguanodon stopped dead in their tracks when the saw the T. rex charging right at them. The roared and readied to defend themselves, but the rex shoved past them, completely ignoring them as prey and focusing on the Gems ahead. The herbivores shared equal looks of confusion.

Topaz swung her mace, battering Gem after Gem in a show of true warrior savagery. She and the other stayed in a tight circle, fighting their attackers as one. But even all together they were no match for this many experienced soldiers. They needed a miracle.

Red Onyx punched an Onyx square in the Gem, just stopping Azurite from undoubtedly being poofed. She forced herself to focus on landing blow after blow on every enemy she saw, but something was making her falter that she couldn't force herself through. She was about to go down, when a thunderous roar silenced the battlefield. Every Gem, even Citrine, turned to see a gigantic, razor-fanged reptile charging boldly onto the scene.

"What in Yellow Diamond…" The T. rex leaped into the air and came crashing down on the soldier Gems, poofing several under his weight alone. The Onyx soldiers charged at him, weapons bared, but the rex roared and grabbed Gem after Gem in his massive jaws and threw them like ragdolls, tripping more to the ground where he crushed them underfoot.

Topaz, Azurite, Turquoise, and Red Onyx watched in awe as the T. rex easily took out nearly every soldier, standing protectively in front of them and roaring full-throated at Citrine. The Onyx soldiers, knowing they could never defeat such a behemoth, retreated back to the ship as the theropod roared victoriously.

"What are you clods doing?!" Citrine yelled angrily at her 'soldiers'.

"Commander, that...that _thing_ is too powerful to fight!" One Onyx answered her.

"I don't think Yellow Diamond would be so accepting of that explanation." Citrine spat, her words laced with venom. "Now, I order you to get back out there, and take those damn rebels prisoner! _Do I make myself clear?!_ " After hearing this, the Onyxes wasted no time in regrouping and attacking again. The T. rex roared tauntingly at them.

Though the rex fought fearsomely, the soldier Gems, not willing to face Yellow Diamond with the story that they were defeated by a mere organic being, attacked just as so. The T. rex roared and snapped his jaws, only for the Gems to evade his attacks at the last moment. They knew what to expect now. The rex howled in pain as a blade sliced his thigh, fresh blood pouring from the wound. The rex turned to retaliate, but another Gem cut open his side. Suddenly, he rex lost his footing and toppled over, hitting the ground with a huge thud.

In moments the other Gems were on him. He thrashed and snapped wildly, trying to shake them off long enough to stand back up, but to no avail. He was overwhelmed, when suddenly, the Onyx standing atop his head was entangled by a gold chain, and yanked off the rex and into the air. The T. rex looked to see Topaz leap in front of him, swinging her mace. The T. rex had protected her and her friends, and she was going to return the favor. The other three Gems, though they weren't as sure about this as their leader, joined Topaz's side in front of the dinosaur, valiantly clashing with the enemy Gems.

From her place on the ship, Citrine watched with a scowl as the rebel Gems fight alongside the dinosaur, crippling her soldiers like they were weak Pearls!

"Fire gem turrets!" She ordered to several technician Gems behind her. "Aim for the monster!"

The T. rex suddenly heard something over the noise of the fight. He looked towards the ship to see six large turrets emerge from the hull, with yellow crystals in the center, charging up with orange energy. His eyes widened in fear.

The T. rex leaped out of the way just in time as a bolt of orange energy blasted the ground where he'd been standing. The six turrets fired at him and the rebels on Citrine's order, who was bent on capturing them, and killing the rex.

The rex was nearly knocked off his feet as another explosion went off behind him. He roared at Citrine, but then saw a turret aiming directly at Red Onyx. The T. rex roared a warning, but she didn't hear him. The turret fired, and the rex roared in distress. Red Onyx turned moments before the blast hit her, and then she was gone in a huge blur as the blast hit the ground.

Red Onyx opened her eyes, to see the ground below her. Her gem wasn't shattered, she hadn't poofed, she hadn't even been hit by the energy blast. She was securely in the T. rex's mouth. The T. rex gently put her down, and the Gem and the Dinosaur looked into each other's eyes. Red Onyx saw the shard in the rex's forehead, the shard from her gem. For a brief, hazy moment, the rex swore he was looking up at himself, and Red Onyx could swear she was looking down at herself.

Suddenly, another turret fired at them, the explosion, knocking them both off their feet. Azurite was quickly by Red Onyx's side, ignoring the enemies around her as Topaz and Turquoise held them at bay. The four Gems got a shock as the T. rex stood over them protectively, bellowing thunderously at Citrine. Citrine then unleashed another barrage of laser blasts, and the remaining Onyx soldiers quickly retreated. The T. rex roared, his eyes and the shard in his head starting to glow. The same happened to Red Onyx's gem, to the others' bewilderment.

White light energy enveloped the rex's entire head, forming a reddish-pink, armored mask the shape of a robust Tyrannosaurus rex skull with huge metal teeth, and some armor anchoring it.

Every Gem in the area was silent. Even Citrine wore an expression of unbelievable shock. From a safe distance, even the Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Iguanodon's mouths were agape at what they saw.

The silence of the moment was broken when the T. rex roared so loud Citrine was almost shaken off her feet. Looking out the red visors over his eyes, the T. rex targeted the laser turret, charging straight for them.

"Fire!" Citrine ordered after snapping back to reality. The turrets all aimed at the dinosaur and fired, but the blasts hit harmlessly against his mask. The rex advanced on a turret and leaped into the air, clamped his real jaws onto the metal before crushing it with his armor jaws, and ripped it clean out of its mount, crunching it to splinters in his armored jaws.

Citrine turned back to the rebels, who were beaten and unprotected.

"Soldiers! Get the rebels!" She cried. Obeying, the remaining Onyx soldiers charged towards Topaz, Azurite, Turquoise and Red Onyx. The T. rex roared and was about to charge to the Gems' aid, but the turrets began firing at him again. The turrets had to be taken out, but the Gems needed help. He couldn't do this alone.

The T. rex roared an echoing cry over the battlefield, calling to the only ones who could help them now; the Stegosaurus, the Triceratops, and the Iguanodon. The three herbivores were hesitant to answer the call, knowing they'd be putting themselves in mortal danger, and why on earth would they trust a T. rex? But the Stegosaurus looked out and saw Topaz's desperate face looking to him.

Encouraged like a reborn phoenix, the Stegosaurus belted out the most fearsome war cry ever uttered by dinosaur kind, and thundered on to the battlefield, galloping like a warrior beast of legend. With such inspiration as that, it was only moments later that the Triceratops bellowed and followed the Stego, the Iguanodon hot on his heels.

Topaz and her Gems stood in a formation, ready to face their enemies to the last blow. Suddenly, three huge shapes thundered past them and ran the Onyx soldiers head on, smashing through them like they were a flimsy fern bed.

The Stegosaurus swung his tail, the Triceratops thrust his horns, and the Iguanodon stomped and tail-slapped every Gem they saw, forming a wall of spikes, horns and body mass in front of the good Gems, who were surprised to say the least.

The T. rex tore another turret off the ship, roaring in triumph. Citrine was losing her patience. Where in the name of Diamond did these aliens get the audacity and power to put up an actual fight against her?! Growling under her breath, Citrine said,

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll _get!_ " She then discarded her cape and charged the T. rex, who roared and did the same. What the theropod didn't expect was that he would receive a full-on punch to the lower jaw that literally threw him into the air for a few moments.

The Gems and dinosaurs all gaped at what they'd just seen. The rex stood up, snarling in rage. He roared at Citrine and charged again, only for her to leap out of the way at the last moment, and come crashing down with a blazing spin attack on the rex's spine.

The T. rex fell with a groan, his armor mask disappearing. Citrine laughed coldly to herself, only to be silenced by an enraged roar from the throat of a charging Stegosaurus.

Expecting the plated beast to bite at her, Citrine veered to the left, only for the Stego to thrust his hips forward and swung his tail straight at Citrine, throwing her in the air where she collided with the ship, forming a considerable dent in the hull.

Snarling in rage at being bested in combat, Citrine glared hatefully at both the rebel Gems and the dinosaurs, before raising her arm and speaking into her wrist communicator.

"Fire all weapons and destroy them." The Gems and dinosaurs stared in terror as at least a dozen more turrets and laser cannons appeared from the ship's hull, aiming straight at them and charging up for a single, decimating blast.

Acting on instinct, the three herbivores honked in fear and ran for their lives, the T. rex chasing after them, trying to get them to come back and save the Gems. Topaz and her companions just stood there, their weapons vanishing. They all knew they couldn't run, so they huddled together to face their fate, Red Onyx holding Azurite tightly in her arms. The T. rex stopped to look behind at them, and roared for them to run, but they did not listen. Topaz gripped Serpentine's gem in her hand, looking at it one last time, before throwing it far away as hard as she could to save the little Gem.

The T. rex roared a resounding _**NO!**_ , as the weapons fired all at once. Topaz, Turquoise, Azurite, and Red Onyx embraced one another, closing their eyes tightly.

The explosion was enough to blow the T. rex into the air for the second time, as well as the other three dinosaurs. Debris shot past them, and the Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Iguanodon screamed out in pain as four burning gem shards embedded themselves in the dinosaurs' tail, forehead, and hands, respectively.

When the smoke cleared, the dinosaurs, now all with gem shards lodged in their skin, struggled to push themselves off the ground. The Stegosaurus was first. He turned his burning tail around to look at it, seeing the shard of Topaz's gem between his first pair of tail spikes. Next was the Triceratops, who awoke to find the dark blue shard from Azurite's gem fixed between his brow horns. Last to stand was the Iguanodon, who looked to see two of Turquoise's shards embedded on the fronts of his hands.

As the three herbivores shakily got up, they saw the T. rex approach them. But the herbivores did not react in fear; they greeted the rex, as if they had been old friends, and each looked upon the shards on the others' body. Knowing what had happened, the four dinosaurs growled in sorrow.

Looking upon the crater where the rebels formerly stood, Citrine chuckled darkly, climbing back up the ramp into the ship. "Lieutenant," She said. "Commence takeoff. Set a course back to Homeworld."

"Yes, Commander." The other Gem obeyed.

Their heads hung low in sadness, the four dinosaurs turned to the sound of the ship taking off. Their eyes narrowing in rage, the Triceratops, Iguanodon, and T. rex roared monstrously and charged towards it. The Stegosaurus roared for them to stop, but his calls fell on deaf ears.

Onboard the ship, one of the pilot Gems noticed something was wrong.

"Uh...commander?" She said meekly.

"What is it?" Citrine replied flatly.

"It seems firing all the ship's main weapon at once has overworked the reactor core beyond repair."

"What does that mean?" Citrine was a soldier, not and engineer.

"To put it short," the smaller Gem said, her voice cracking. "The central power core is destabilizing and within moments will go into full meltdown!" Citrine's eyes widened at this revelation. A core meltdown meant the reactor would collapse and explode, and there was no telling how much damage would result!

"ACTIVATE ESCAPE PODS!" Citrine ordered to every Gem in the bridge. "NOW!"

The T. rex roared in hatred and leaped at the ship, his jaws snapping just inches from the hull. He found he could jump much higher now, nearly 100 feet in one bound. The Triceratops and Iguanodon cried out in anger at the Gems inside the ship beside him. The Stegosaurus hurried arrived on the scene, and grunted to the others, trying to get them to stop. The T. rex roared back, arguing that the Gems inside deserved what was coming to them.

The two dinosaurs would have continued arguing, when the Triceratops grunted, alerting them of several dozen pods shooting out from the ship's hull into the sky. The dinosaurs roared threateningly, telling the Homeworld Gems to never come back.

Suddenly, the ship began to fall back to earth, green fires bursting from the hull. The Stegosaurus roared for the dinosaurs to run, and they all took off, much faster than they'd ever gone before. They knew the ship's reactor was destabilizing, and the had to get away or gets be destroyed, along with everything else.

The dinosaurs were less than a half mile away when the ship finally exploded into a massive burst of green energy so bright it could be seen over the sea. Anything close to the explosion was instantly vaporized, and the shockwave caused entire ripples to form on the crust of the earth itself.

The four dinosaurs were blown into the sky, and as a wave of green energy enveloped the entire landscape, their bodies vaporized, leaving only the gem shards.

The wave of destruction spread across the entire world, destroying all in its path, including the dinosaurs.

* * *

The Stegosaurus had no idea where he was. From what he could see, he was surrounded by topaz-yellow light all around. He knew he had poofed, and was recovering in his gem. _His_ gem? Not entirely.

The Stegosaurus then saw a figure appear. It was Topaz, the Gem who'd died, and whose shard he now carried on his tail. She looked at him, and he looked at her. Both knew that they were now one being.

The topaz shard began to glow and rise into the air. White energy came from it, briefly taking the form of Topaz before expanding into that of a Stegosaurus.

The Stegosaurus landed on the ground elegantly. He noticed that now, instead of brownish-green, his skin was a bright shade of topaz, with amber markings down his back and legs and golden plates. After looking over his new form, the Stegosaurus look out at the devastation around him.

Everything...was...gone.

Just, _gone._ The trees, the forests, the mountains, the dinosaurs, even the clouds, all of it, gone. Gone, as if erased from existence entirely. The Stegosaurus didn't know where he had landed, or how much time had passed since he entered his shard, but everything in the world he had known had been obliterated.

Head bent in sorrow, his eyes filling with tears, the Stegosaurus roared into the sky, and echoing roar that mourned for the dinosaurs, and the beautiful world that had been killed. He also mourned for the Triceratops, the Iguanodon, and the T. rex, who surely were killed in the apocalypse as well.

The Stegosaurus turned to walk away, only to hear a call from across the devastated land. The Stegosaurus turned to see a large figure running across the ashen ground towards him. He heard more calls, and looked to see two more figures approaching from the other sides. The Stegosaurus called out to them, knowing it was his fellow dinosaurs with shards on their bodies.

The four dinosaurs groaned in relief when they were at last reunited. The Stegosaurus noticed that, just like him, they had changed in appearance after reforming; the Tyrannosaurus was now bright red, with a lighter shade marking his underside and lower jaw. The Triceratops was now dark blue, with a lighter shade covering his legs and underbelly and aqua streaks down his quill-covered hide. The Iguanodon was now dark turquoise-green with lighter turquoise marking his stomach, feet and lower forearms, and his eyes were now covered by a clear visor, much like Turquoise had had.

The dinosaurs(sorry, DinoGems) looked around, seeing nothing but death in their former home. Serpentine's gem had likely not survived the destruction.

The four DinoGems looked at one another. Once they had been simple dinosaurs, but now, with the shards of Topaz, Azurite, Turquoise, and Red Onyx on their bodies, they had become one with the Gems themselves. They were now Topazorn, Azuron, Turquasar, and Onyxcor.

Topazorn in the lead, the DinoGems, last of the dinosaurs, strode off into the new dawn, intending to see the world through as it healed.

* * *

 **And so ends the prologue. Way longer than I first intended, I swear. The early draft was also extremely different events-wise too. Now that we have our new characters in, next chapter we skip ahead to modern day Beach City, with Steven and the Crystal Gems! Stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2: Crystal Gems? Meet DinoGems

**Chapter 2, as promised. I hope everyone's enjoying Stevenbomb 4, cause it's only begun!**

 **In this chapter the Crystal Gems meet the DinoGems, and Steven begins setting up relations with them. Also, everyone's favorite dorito makes her debut in this fic! Also, Crying Breakfast Friends for life.**

 **Enjoy the sweet spoils of my labor!**

* * *

It was a sunny spring day in Beach City, and at the Crystal Gems' temple, Steven was in the middle of watching his favorite TV show, _Crying Breakfast Friends_. It was a special episode; some new characters were being introduced! Whiny Omelette, Teary Toast, Doe-Eyed Donut, and Coffee.

As Steven's show began, he heard someone move to the foot of his bed, and looked up to see the toes of a pair of green footie socks.

"Hey Peridot." The green, Dorito-haired Gem had been living in Steven's bathroom for the past few days, due to her distrust(to put it lightly) of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. She was a lot more comfortable around Steven, evidently, and thankfully had begun leaving his bathroom lately, mainly when the Crystal Gems weren't around.

"Hello, Steven." The child-sized Gem replied, sitting at the foot of his bed, her eyes on the TV screen. She had become rather intrigued by "primitive" earth technology as of late, particularly Steven's "video games", as he called them. There was also this "television" that he often stared at, in particular a group of perpetually sorrowful sapient earth food items, that constantly leaked fluid from their vision spheres.

"I fail to understand the purpose of this "television"." Peridot said in her nasally voice. "Why do the sapient earth foods constantly show negative emotion towards everything?" Steven tried to explain.

"Well, sometimes people just feel bad about something, and crying kind of helps them feel better...I think." Steven wasn't sure himself what the actual point of the show was, but he did find it somewhat similar to his own life with the Gems at one time or another.

Peridot seemed content with this answer, though she didn't completely grasp the concept of "emotion" just yet, at least not much beyond frustration and/or fear.

For a while Peridot and Steven sat watching the TV, but soon, something odd happened. Coffee was in the middle of crying with Milk after they had accidentally spilled on each other, when out of nowhere, there came a faint rumble, enough to blur the TV screen for an instant.

"What was that?" Steven wondered, but Peridot seemed particularly agitated. Steven looked down at his cup of juice, and ripples formed on the liquid surface rhythmically, almost like footsteps.

All of a sudden, it stopped. Peridot came out from under Steven's covers when the rumbles ended, just as confused as Steven was. Both were staring at the ceiling, in case anything kept shaking, missing something very large slide past the window.

"Hm." Steven said, standing up. "I guess it was nothing." Only to be immediately contradicted when a tremendous clatter erupted from the other end of house. Steven and Peridot looked to see the temple door opening, and a writhing purple mass of vines and thorns slither out.

"Aah!" Steven cried. "The Slinker!"

"The _what?!_ " Peridot echoed. Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst then entered, each with their weapons bared. The Slinker hissed at them, whipping its thorny tentacles and snapping its mouth at them.

"You guys!" Steven yelled. "What happened?"

"Steven! Stay back!" Garnet told him. Garnet then punched the Slinker in its pod-like mouth, knocking it into a wall. Pearl then leaped into the air and jabbed at the plant-like monster with her spear, accompanied by Amethyst grappling its vines with her whip. The Slinker then whipped its vines, incidentally throwing Amethyst into Pearl, sending them both into the wall by the warp pad. Garnet pounded the Slinker with her gauntlets, grappling its multitude of vines when it tried to retaliate. Pearl and Amethyst recovered and attacked once again, only for the three of them to be continually pounded by the Slinker.

The Slinker then snapped its jaws shut on Amethyst, who angrily tried to punch her way out.

"This feels _really_ deja vu." The small quartz lamented. Garnet hit the Slinker from behind, making it cough up Amethyst before it could poof her.

"They need help!" Steven said, ready to jump down from his balcony.

"Steven! Don't!" Peridot cried, grabbing Steven and holding him back before he could jump.

"Peridot!" Suddenly, a huge, resounding roar shook the walls of the house. While no-one knew where or what it came from, it distracted the Slinker long enough for Garnet to deliver a huge punch to its tuber-like body, throwing it across the room and all the way out the front door onto the beach.

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst hurried out the door, Steven hastily following. The Gems jumped off the balcony at the front of the house, landing on the ground in front of the Slinker. The corrupted Gem hissed at them, and the three were about to attack again, when, out of nowhere, a yellowish blur smacked the Slinker and tossed it all the way to the sand.

The Gems and Steven looked to see a huge, golden topaz Stegosaurus stomp the ground and roar at the Slinker. The Slinker hissed back, but three more roars silenced it as a dark blue Triceratops, a turquoise-green Iguanodon, and a blazing red Tyrannosaurus rex charged and surrounded it, snarling.

The Stegosaurus ran up beside the other dinosaurs, and growled at the Slinker. Then, the gem shard on his tail began to glow, and around his tail formed a piece of heavy armor, from which extended a long, gold chain with a huge, spiked ball on the end, four elongated spikes jutting out from the sides.

Steven and the Gems could only stare in shock as the other dinosaurs produced their weapons; the Triceratops' brow horns transformed into a pair of long, razor-sharp sabers, the T. rex' head became encased in an armored jaw mask, and the Iguanodon stood and summoned two huge gauntlets on its hands, very similar to Garnet's, only the thumb spike was prominently displayed and the fingers ended in claws.

The Slinker hissed and tried to slither between the dinosaurs' legs, but the T. rex grabbed one of its vines in his jaws and threw the Slinker into the cliff.

The Slinker shook itself off and screeched at the dinosaurs, and then the Iguanodon came running up and landed a solid blow to the Slinker's head, knocking it back between the dinosaurs. The Slinker pounced at the Triceratops, maw open wide, only for the horned dinosaur to swing his head, his horn-swords slicing off two of the Slinker's vines. The Slinker landed on the Trike's back, and was punctured by the dinosaurs multitude of quills.

The Slinker, beaten up, slid off the Triceratops and was surrounded again by the four dinosaurs. The Slinker screeched in defiance, and the Stegosaurus roared and leaped into the air, and came down spinning like a cannonball, his tail-mace swinging and hitting the Slinker head-on as the Stego landed, the impact poofing the gem monster instantly, and throwing up a cloud of sand.

Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven stared blankly in awe as the four dinosaurs marched out of the cloud of dust and gem vapors. First the Stegosaurus, then the T. rex, Triceratops, and lastly the Iguanodon. Each dismissed their respective weapons, and stared back at the Crystal Gems. Peridot, equally as shocked, watched from the house.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Steven said, staring in awe with stars forming in his eyes. " _GEM DINOSAURS!"_ Only then did the dinosaur Gems notice the human boy, and their eyes widened upon seeing him.

"Where the heck did those things come from?" Amethyst wondered.

"Garnet, do you think they're corrupted Gems?" Pearl whispered to the fusion.

"Hm." Responded Garnet. "I'm not sure. They seem perfectly sapient, and they can summon their weapons efficiently." Steven was practically jumping up and down from the excitement, since few things are as awesome as dinosaurs with Gem powers.

"Can we keep them, Garnet?! Pleeeease?" Steven begged, giddy.

"Steven-" Pearl began, only to be interrupted by a snort from the Stegosaurus, who had walked up to them unnoticed. Pearl squealed and hid behind Garnet, but Steven only looked up in wonder with starry eyes.

The T. rex then approached, eyeing Garnet. He could sense that she was a fusion, and growled back at the Stegosaurus. The Triceratops grunted at the rex, who snorted in response. The two then began launching into an argument of growls and grunts, but then the Stegosaurus roared, effectively shutting them both up.

It was then that the Iguanodon approached, and lowered his head to smell Steven, who laughed as the sniffing tickled him.

"Hey! Cut it out!" He laughed. He then noticed the Iguanodon's visor. "Nice shades!" The Iguanodon seemed to like the compliment, as he honked happily in response. Then Steven saw the turquoise shards on the dinosaur's hands, which he pointed out to the others. The other dinosaurs showed their gems as well, and then the Stegosaurus began scraping his tail along the ground, scrawling something in the sand. When he was finished, it spelled out a message, which Steven read aloud.

" _I am Topazorn. The Triceratops is Azuron, the Tyrannosaurus is Onyxcor, and the Iguanodon is Turquasar; we are the DinoGems."_

"Uh…" Was all Pearl could say. The Stegosaurus, Topazorn, then turned his attention to Steven.

"Um, hey there!" The boy said, a little unnerved by the dinosaur's piercing gaze. Topazorn then reached down at Steven and pulled up the hem of his shirt with his mouth(much to Pearl's distress), revealing Steven's gem, inherited from his mother, Rose Quartz. The other dinosaurs, Azuron, Onyxcor, and Turquasar, all gaped in awe at the sight. This "Steven" was clearly human, an organic life form, but was part Gem as well, just as the DinoGems were.

After gently letting Steven go, Topazorn grunted to the others, and they nodded with knowing groans.

"What are they doing?" Pearl wondered nervously, still clinging to Garnet. Then, with a sharp grunt, the four dinosaurs began walking up the path towards Steven's house, their huge footsteps rumbling the ground. The DinoGems then sat down on the grass under the building, as if setting up on a long vigil in which they would guard the area.

"I guess they're staying." Garnet said flatly after a pause.

"What?!" Pearl cried.

"Awesome!" Steven beamed. "I've gotta tell Connie about this!" As Steven ran back to the house to get his phone to call his friend, Garnet quickly bubbled the Slinker's gem before it could reform, sending it back to to her room in the temple.

"Garnet," Pear said, a tinge of unrest in her tone. "You can't be serious! We don't even know what those things _are!_ They could be a danger to Steven, or even the entire city! How can we just ignore something that big and powerful-worse yet, _four_ somethings-when it literally takes up residence under our feet?!"

"We let Steven keep Lion." Was the fusion's reply, referring to the giant pink lion that had been staying with them for a while now under Steven's wishes. Pearl, not having a response, looked over at the DinoGems, whom the previously mentioned Lion was inspecting in a very housecat-like manner. The T. rex, "Onyxcor", as he was apparently known as, promptly snorted at him, driving Lion away.

"I like 'em." Amethyst said. "The Slinker poofed me like four times, and these guys took it out in 10 seconds! They're cool in my book." Pearl huffed in annoyance.

"I still think we should at least be wary of these "DinoGems", in the event they-"

"Pearl," Garnet interrupted. "From what we've seen of them, these Gems are not an immediate threat. They stopped the Slinker, and introduced themselves politely afterwards. If they're as intelligent as they seem, I'm positive they know who we are as well, and are trying to help us. Besides, I doubt even the three of us combined could get them to leave anytime soon."

"I suppose." Said Pearl, still somewhat unsure.

"Sweet!" Amethyst shouted. "Dinosaur neighbors!"

* * *

Later that afternoon;

"Whoa."

"Awesome, right?!" Steven gushed. Connie Maheswaran, Steven's best friend, had just arrived on the beach after receiving an enthusiastic call that dinosaur Gems had just taken up residence in his front yard. Upon hearing her voice, the DinoGems all turned their heads in unison, staring at her quite unnervingly.

"Um, Steven?" Connie asked. "Why are they staring at me like that?"

"That's just a thing they do, I guess." Steven replied. Topazorn then grunted and stood up, and stomped over to the children, eyeing Connie with a deep growl. He lowered his head to look her in the eye, and blew a hot rush of breath out his nostrils into her face.

"Ugh!" Connie coughed. "He's got some bad breath." They both laughed, and then Topazorn grunted to Azuron, Onyxcor and Turquasar, who got up and approached the girl beside their leader.

"Um… It's nice to meet you all?" Connie said, unsure. Turquasar was the first to respond, lowering his head and taking a whiff of her hair. The Iguanodon Gem honked happily.

"I think he's saying he likes you." Steven proposed.

"Wait," Connie said. "You said these dinosaurs were Gems?"

"Mm-hm! They have names too!"

"Really?" Topazorn nodded with a grunt. He swung his tail around and showed his gem on the end. Connie could see the others' gems on their foreheads/knuckles, all prominently displayed.

"What're their names?"

"Well, the Gems told me which gems they each have; the Stegosaurus is a Topaz, and he's named Topazorn." The plated DinoGem grunted and dipped his head.

"The Triceratops is an Azurite, and he's named Azuron." Azuron dipped his head as well, minding his horns.

"The Iguanodon is a Turquoise, so he's named Turquasar."

"Wow! Awesome name!" Connie said, earning grateful honk from the spectacled DinoGem.

"And the T. rex is a Red Onyx, and he's called Onyxcor." The rex Gem growled and raised his head, looking down at Connie.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" Connie said, looking up at the dinosaurs. "But how did you guys survive the asteroid that wiped out all the other dinosaurs, if it's ok to ask?" Turquasar was about to utter something, but Azuron whipped him his with tail and grunted harshly before he could speak.

"Well, they don't talk, but Topazorn can write in the sand!"

"You can?" Connie asked the golden stegosaur. He turned with a rumble and dragged his tail along the sand, and when he turned back around, it read 'YES'.

"In that case, can you tell us both how you became Gems in the first place?" An enthusiastic Steven asked, stars in his eyes. The DinoGems were silent, and then they walked away, settling back under the deck of Steven's house.

"Oh. I guess not." Steven observed.

"It's alright, Steven." Connie said. "We could go do something else?"

"Maybe...sit on a T. rex's back?" Steven said, referring to Onyxcor, the stars returning to his eyes.

"Heck yes!" Was Connie's reply.

Onyxcor grunted as he suddenly felt something squirming on his tail. He looked back with a growl to see Steven and Connie trying to shimmy up his tail onto his back. At first the theropod was going to lift his tail and dump them off, but a loud bark from Topazorn convinced him otherwise. Onyxcor snarled to himself as he let the children mount his shoulders and watch the sun dip below the horizon.

From the house, Pearl looked down at the DinoGems, Peridot was there as well.

"I'm still concerned for Steven around those, things." The skinny Gem commented. Peridot ignored her concerns, and brought up one of her own.

"Wonderful; now I have four _more_ giant clods snorting down my neck." At that moment Azuron sneezed on some pollen, making Peridot squeal and duck to the floor in a whimpering huddle.

It seemed both groups of Gems would have to get used to each other.

* * *

 **And there you have it; the alliance between the Crystal Gems and the DinoGems! Probably not what you were expecting. Next time around, Steven takes his new pals around Beach City, and hilarity will ensue. Happy Stevenbomb!**


	3. Chapter 3: A Day Out with Steven

**Chapter 3: DinoGems in the city.**

 **Steven spends a day in Beach City, introducing our dinosaur Gems to human stuff. It goes about as well as you'd think.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning came as usual, only now the Crystal Gem's temple was awoken by the rumbling bellows that were mere yawns to the DinoGems as they were awoken by the dawn sun. Pure Gems did not require sleep, but like Steven, the DinoGems were half organic being, and thus required both food and slumber.

Topazorn was the first to wake. He grunted to the others, waking them up as well. Azuron was the first on his feet, then Onyxcor, followed by Turquasar. After shaking themselves awake, Topazorn, Azuron and Turquasar went off to graze on any plant food they could find, while Onyxcor stalked off to find something for himself. Before parting ways, however, Topazorn ordered the T. rex not to harm any humans.

Meanwhile, inside Steven's house, the young Quartz was just waking up himself. After stretching a little, Steven, not bothering to change out of his yellow banana pajamas, walked out the sliding glass door to his bed onto the balcony. The boy yawned and rubbed his his eyes, and then looked down to the noisy chewing of the three herbivorous DinoGems.

"Good morning!" Steven called to them from his balcony. Topazorn, Turquasar, and Azuron did not acknowledge him, and only concentrated on eating. Steven shrugged, then went back into the house to get some breakfast for himself.

Downstairs he found Amethyst, already eating something in Steven's kitchen, and it probably wasn't actual food.

"Hey Ste-man!" The purple Gem said.

"Hey, Amethyst." Steven replied, getting himself some pop-tarts from a cabinet and sitting down to eat. "Amethyst? Where do you think the DinoGems came from?"

"Beats me." Amethyst replied with a shrug. "Weren't dinosaurs around like, millions of years before Gems first came to earth?"

"Yeah, I think." Steven said. "But if they were around before any Gems, how'd they get those gem shards in their bodies?"

"Maybe Gems have been around way longer than you think!" Amethyst suggested creepily, wiggling her fingers.

"Very funny." Said Steven. "Is Peridot hiding in the bathroom again?"

"Yep. That's pretty much where she hangs out now, now that four huge, millions-of-years-old monsters live right outside."

"I think she'd like them better if she got to know them." Steven wondered. "And you guys, too."

"Eh. If four gigantic lizards from the past with Gem powers and weapons and bad attitudes were living right outside my house and I was considered bite-size, I'd be nervous too."

* * *

Later that day, Steven decided to go out and spend the afternoon in Beach City, with the Gems' permission. He asked Peridot if she'd like to go with him, but she politely refused.

As Steven headed up the beach towards town, four sets of thundering footsteps followed. Pearl wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of them entering the city, but the DinoGems insisted that they accompany Steven, and it is common knowledge that arguing with something more than ten times your size was pointless at best.

Steven's first destination was the _It's A Wash!_ car wash owned by his dad, Greg Universe.

"Hey, Dad!" Steven called upon arriving, running up.

"Hey, kiddo!" Greg called back as he looked up from his van. Steven laughed as Greg tussled his hair playfully.

"Dad, there's someone I'd like you to meet!" Steven announced, stars in his eyes.

"Really?" Greg replied. "Make some new friends?"

"You could say that. They sorta just crashed at the temple and look like they're staying."

"Boy, I know what that's like." Greg said, recalling some event in his past before he met the Gems.

"Anyway, here they come!" Steven gestured proudly, and the DinoGems stomped up to the car wash, the vibrations from their footsteps shaking Greg's van hard enough to trigger the car alarm. Greg was frozen at the sight of four dinosaurs towering over him, glaring down with a gaze that probably wasn't meant to be intimidating, but was nonetheless.

"Dad, meet the DinoGems; Topazorn, Onyxcor, Azuron, and Turquasar!" Steven boldly announced.

"Uh.." The DinoGems growled down at the human, Onyxcor more intensely than the others.

"Oh, uh, guys," The DinoGems turned their gaze to Steven. "This is my dad!" The DinoGems stopped growling, and Topazorn stepped forth to look the human over. He didn't look like the most fitting parent, and his scent wasn't the best either. The boy didn't appear to be phased by these glaring realities, however.

"Uh..hey there, DinoGems?" Greg feebly said, some sweat dripping down his forehead. Azuron grunted something to Topazorn, who groaned a reply. Onyxcor snorted in what sounded like disapproval, Topazorn shot him down, and Turquasar honked somewhat optimistically. Onyxcor snorted out a hot breath and rolled his eyes.

"Is that how they talk to each other?" Greg asked his son, somewhat unnerved that the dinosaur Gems appeared to be discussing him.

"I guess so." Steven replied. "They don't talk normally, but I'm sure they can understand each other. Topazorn can write in the sand, but there isn't any here, so..." Topazorn snorted, and then the DinoGems began walking away.

"I said I'd show them the rest of town, so gotta go! Bye Dad!" Steven called as he ran to catch up with the DinoGems, waving his dad goodbye.

"Seeya!" Greg called back. "Yeesh. Hope the Gems can handle this."

* * *

In town, Steven strutted proudly down the street, his entourage of gigantic, technicolor dinosaurs trailing behind. As can be expected, a Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Iguanodon heading through town drew sizable attention.

The DinoGems looked around them as they followed behind the Gem child, eyeing the various humans who stared in awe at their simple presence, and several were hastily snapping pictures of the Gem saurians and posting them on various social networks. Onyxcor growled, questioning Topazorn on why they were even doing this, but the Stegosaurus silenced him with a grunt, saying not to question him. The red T. rex snarled to himself.

Azuron stopped for a moment when a small, furry creature ran up and barked angrily at him, attempting to look like a threat. The dark blue Triceratops merely rumbled in his throat, before unleashing a _real_ full-throated roar into the mutt's face. The dog whimpered and slunk away quickly afterwards.

"Steven!" A voice called out. Steven and the DinoGems turned to see blonde, curly-haired teenager with glasses running up to them, panting.

"Hey, Ronaldo!" Steven called to the teen conspirator. When Ronaldo approached, however, Onyxcor lunged and roared into the curly-haired teen's face, dousing him with saliva. The other DinoGems snarled threateningly and stepped toward Ronaldo, a fierce, demanding glare in their eyes.

"Wait!" Steven cried, and the DinoGems paused as the boy ran up between them and the teen. "You guys, this is my friend, Ronaldo. Please don't attack him." Topazorn lifted his head and grunted a command to the others, and they backed off, still eyeing this 'Ronaldo'.

"Steven, are you aware that there are living dinosaurs behind you?!" Ronaldo exclaimed.

"Uh...yes?" Steven replied. "But don't worry; they're my friends! This is Topazorn, Azuron, Onyxcor, and Turquasar."

"Incredible!" Ronaldo gasped. "Living dinosaurs, survivors from a primordial age long past! May I interview them for my blog?" The DinoGems all gave each other odd looks; what was this human gassing on about? Turquasar gave Azuron a look that said, " _What the heck's a blog?"_ more than anything else.

"Uh, I guess." Said Steven. The DinoGems were still foggy as to what was going on.

"Perfect!" Ronaldo said cheerfully, taking out his phone. "Greetings, mighty saurians! If I may ask, how did you survive the apocalypse that wiped out the rest of your kind, and how do you plan on reconquering the earth from us puny mammals?" Topazorn's eyes shifted about in confusion, the others equally in the dark. What was this human talking about? Did he even know that they were Gems?

"Did the aliens who spared you from extermination give you enhanced intelligence?" Apparently the human was still talking. "Do you plan on creating an army of dino-human hybrids to take control of the world?!" Quite tired of this, Topazorn irritably roared in Ronaldo's face, blowing back his ridiculous-looking hair.

"Is that a phrase of commemoration among your kind?"

"Ronaldo?" Steven said, interrupting the overzealous conspirator, much to the DinoGem's satisfaction. "They don't really talk, and I'm pretty sure they don't have any plans to take over the world, or create dinosaur-people. They're actually Gems, kinda like me!" This reveal left Ronaldo dumbfounded.

"What?!" He cried, earning a collective eyeroll from the DinoGems. "But...that can't be! Why is everything linked to the Gems and not the supernatural? Or aliens? Or even the Sneeple?!" Onyxcor, particularly sick of this annoying human, snarled and snapped his jaws grouchily. Topazorn then nudged Steven, and grunted with a gesture that they leave.

"Oh, that's right! Sorry, Ronaldo," Steven said. "But I promised to show the DinoGems around Beach City, and I think they want to see more now. Hope your blog goes well!" Steven then waved his human friend goodbye and continued down the sidewalk, the DinoGems following behind him.

"Wait!" Ronaldo cried. "The dinosaurs must have been sent for something! Why must the truth evade me so?" Onyxcor really, _really_ wanted to squash the human underfoot, but a fierce glare from Topazorn put him off that thought as the dinosaurs followed behind Steven.

Shortly, Steven led the DinoGems to a building near the edge of town, which the DinoGems observed had a large, circular object perching atop the roof of the establishment, with an inscription displayed below. Azuron grunted to Steven, asking why they'd stopped here.

"DinoGems," The Quartz child announced, proudly gesturing to the building. "Welcome to the greatest place in all Beach City, The Big Donut!" The dinosaurs didn't understand Steven's enthusiasm; they knew some about fattening human foods from observation, but since it had little to do with their nutrition in particular they didn't see it as worthwhile knowledge. The same could be said for most if not all human devices in their eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you guys have never eaten donuts before," Steven continued. "Since you're, well, _dinosaurs,_ but a hundred million years old or so still isn't too late to try new things!" If Azuron could speak, he would've corrected that they were only 65 million years old(give or take), but Steven seemed pretty excited about the idea regardless.

"Ok, you guys wait out here, and I'll be right back!" The star-shirted child then entered the donut shop, leaving his multi-ton reptilian companions waiting outside(since they obviously couldn't fit through the front door).

Inside, Steven wasn't greeted with the usual greeting from his friends who worked here, Lars and Sadie. Instead, he noticed the aforementioned employees were up against the wall, eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Hey guys!" Steven called. For a minute, he didn't get a response. Then, a meek voice broke the silence.

"Dinosaurs…" Sadie whimpered, peeking over the countertop. "T-there are d-dinosaurs outside…"

"Oh, those are my new friends!" Steven gladly informed as the DinoGems glared in through the windows.

"What?!" Lars practically screamed.

"I agree with Lars." Sadie said, standing up from behind the counter. "What?"

"Allow me to explain;" Steven began, walking up to the donut counter. "First of all, they're a lot smarter than regular dinosaurs, and second of all, they're half-gems! Like me!" Outside, the DinoGems grunted, briefly scaring Lars and Sadie once more.

"They're what?!" Lars asked again.

"They're part Gem, part dinosaur. Their named Topazorn, Onyxcor, Azuron, and Turquasar."

"Why're they staring at us like that?" Sadie wondered nervously.

"Like what?" Steven then looked back to see the four dinosaurs each staring intensely through the front of the store at him and the petrified teens, looking very much like they were out for blood. "Oh. They just do that when they meet new people. Nothing to worry about."

"You've really got to stop bringing insane stuff to Beach City." Lars said, earning a growl from Onyxcor, as if to say " _I heard that!"_

The DinoGems were unsure what was going on inside The Big Donut. Steven was explaining them to his pair of human friends, who looked understandably confused and somewhat afraid. It was when Steven came back out with a large bag of donuts that they finally stopped staring in the windows.

"Ok guys, I've got enough donuts for everyone!" Steven happily announced. "Who wants to be the first to try one?" The DinoGems were unsure about eating these 'donuts', but Turquasar figured that it couldn't do any harm, and offered to try one.

"Alright, Turquasar, which kind do you want?" There were different kinds? "We've got some chocolate, glazed, coconut, jelly-filled, frosted, and some peanut butter. Take your pick!" Undecided at first, Turquasar eventually decided on the chocolate, pointing at it with his pinkie. "Ah! Excellent choice, my good dinosaur!" Steven said jokingly, handing the donut to the Iguanodon.

Turquasar took the small pastry in his meaty hand, hesitating to put it in his mouth. But, when he saw the eager smile on Steven's face, he snorted as if to say " _to heck with it!",_ and tossed the chocolate donut into his beak. As he did with his food normally, Turquasar chewed the donut thoroughly. Steven and the other DinoGems watched intently, and then Turquasar paused, his eyes going wide and a moan escaping his beak, soon becoming a loud honk of crazed joy. Donuts were _delicious!_

Turquasar fervently munched the snack away and swallowed, letting out a satisfied moan and slicking his tongue all over his teeth to get at the last remnants. The ecstatic Iguanodon honked at Steven, hastily asking for more.

"Hold on, hold on!" Steven said. "Let your friends have some too! Who wants to go next?" Seeing how Turquasar had enjoyed the treat so much, Topazorn was next to step up. After looking over the selection a few times, the Stegosaurus settled on a glazed, which Steven presented with a giddy smile. After taking the gold confectionary in his beak, Topazorn ate it in one bite and chewed it up, and when he caught the glorious flavor he called out and reared on his hind legs. It was that tasty.

Azuron was next. He quickly went for a coconut, and Steven tossed it into his awaiting beak like he was feeding a dolphin at SeaWorld. The Triceratops bellowed at the amazing food, finding it much better than grass. Desiring seconds, the three herbivores grunted their requests for more at Steven, who happily obliged. He tossed three donuts in the air, and the dinosaurs each caught one like a performing sea lion. Turquasar and Azuron even rolled onto their backs, moaning at the donuts' phenomenal taste.

Steven quickly noticed that the only one who so far hadn't tried a donut was Onyxcor, who sat stubbornly behind him, snarling at how ridiculous his fellow DinoGems were acting, all because of puny little human food. This made no sense to the T. rex.

"Hey Onyxcor!" Steven called from below. "You haven't tried a donut yet!" The Tyrannosaur growled, turned his head away grumpily. "Aw, c'mon! You won't know what it's like until you try one!" By now the others had regained awareness, and they grunted and honked for their teammate to try a donut. Turquasar said it was the greatest thing he'd ever eaten, which Azuron backed him up on.

"C'mon, big guy!" Steven said, holding up a juicy peanut butter donut. Onyxcor snorted in exasperation, before finally reaching for the sweet with his arm. However, he could not reach it. The rex snarled angrily, attempting to stretch his two-fingered arm into reach of the donut, but continuously failed. He growled and bared his huge teeth, ready to bite something in a fit of rage, when Steven took a step forward and place the donut through the hole on Onyxcor's claw.

"There you go." He said, solving what was nearly a catastrophe simply by moving forward slightly. Onyxcor rumbled, narrowing his eyes. He felt pretty stupid for almost blowing up over that. Deciding not to waste time any further, Onyxcor tossed the donut into the air and caught it in his mouth, gulping it down whole. He didn't experience much flavor this way, so he didn't react as the others had.

"You're not supposed to swallow it in one gulp, Onyxcor!" Steven explained. "You have to chew it to _really_ taste the wonder of a donut! Here, try it again!" Steven handed another donut, a creme-filled, to the rex. Onyxcor snorted, but, deciding to appease the kid and seeing no harm, he quickly shapeshifted himself some molars and tossed the second donut into his jaws. Steven watched as Onyxcor, the practice being foreign to him, crudely chewed, and then his eyes widened and his face fell, stars making their way into his irises.

It was good. REALLY good.

Onyxcor jumped up and roared into the sky, a broad, goofy grin overtaking his features. After lickinng every crumb and smudge from his teeth, he grunted for another, as did Topazorn, Azuron and Turquasar. Steven laughed and, enjoying a donut himself, tossed some more into the air for his dino-buddies to go to town on.

The rest of day went on similarly, with Steven introducing the DinoGems to all of his favorite places and to his friends around town(the DinoGems couldn't help but feel a little freaked out upon meeting Onion). Along the way, Steven constantly took pictures on his phone, to "preserve the memories", as he said.

The DinoGems had never been well acquainted with human society, until today having observed from afar. It was because of Steven that dinosaurs were eating donuts, fish pizza, and things known as 'fry bits'. Turquasar seemed to be enjoying himself the most; he'd always been interested by human beings, but the others wanted little to do with them, and were stern to him about going out towards them.

The other DinoGems appeared to be enjoying themselves at least somewhat, and Steven's enthusiasm definitely helped them along.

* * *

At the end of the day, Steven and the DinoGems headed home to the temple, Steven riding atop Topazorn's back.

"So, what did you guys think of Beach City?" Steven asked from the Stegosaur's spine. The four dinosaurs had to admit that the day hadn't been a total waste, and Turquasar and Azuron admitted they'd actually had some fun. They'd done whatever the boy had requested, even if they found it trivial, such as posing for goofy photos, or when they'd gone to Funland and Steven convinced Onyxcor to play a game where one knocked over bottles with a well-aimed ball shot. He'd thrown the ball so hard it blasted straight through the back of the booth and out over the water, hitting a buoy hard enough to ring the bell.

As they approached the temple, they could see Pearl watching from the balcony outside Steven's room. Steven waved and called out hi, and she looked like she was going to have a heart attack upon seeing the Quartz child riding Topazorn.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Steven said as he dismounted Topazorn and headed up the steps to the house. Peridot was looking out the front window at the DinoGems.

"Hey Peridot!" Steven called as he entered.

"Hm." The little Gem responded. Peridot wasn't sure about these Gem hybrids; they were big, angry, and clumsy; they reminded her quite a bit of Jasper, her former escort to this planet, currently imprisoned in the ocean as an insane fusion with that lazuli Gem. If the short, frail Gem could manage _that_ , then she had justification to be wary of the behemoths living right outside.

"Steven, did you have fun today?" Garnet asked the star-shirted boy.

"We sure did!" Steven replied happily. "First, the Topazorn, Onyxcor, Azuron and Turquasar met my dad, then we got donuts, which they all went crazy over! Then we went to arcade, and Funland…"

"Sounds like you all had fun today." Garnet said with a smile. "That's good. I don't think they know much about humans."

"Nope!" Steven said with a laugh. "Onyxcor pretended he was trying to eat onion!"

"Steven, I'm not sure he was pretending."

"...oh."

Outside, the DinoGems settled underneath the house as the sun went down. As they laid down for the night, they discussed in a chorus of growls and rumbles their first official interactions with humans in a long time. Onyxcor wasn't impressed, though secretly he was hooked on those donuts. Azuron, as the smarter of the dinosaurs, did see potential in the humans' society, and said that the rex shouldn't be so narrow-minded. Onyxcor snarled in his throat.

Turquasar was definitely decided on his liking for human beings, and brought up that the DinoGems should've been closer with them all this time. Topazorn snorted at the idea; he was undecided on his view, though the donuts and fry bits had been good.

As night fell and Steven got in bed(saying goodnight to the dinosaurs first, of course), Topazorn decided that they'd likely learn more about humans in time, though he didn't sound enthusiastic about it. Turquasar was, though.

Steven and the DinoGems went to sleep, the Quartz boy and the Turquoise Iguanodon reminiscing about the fun day they'd had.

* * *

 **A lesson: foul-tempered Tyrannosaurs should not be mixed with weird and/or annoying young children. Fact of life.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter; the next ones might take a while longer to come about, but I can say there will be more interaction between the Crystal and Dino Gems! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Nice Parry, Old Dinosaur

**Ringing in my longest chapter yet(not counting the prologue), I present the first in a story arc following the Crystal Gems and the DinoGems getting to formally know each other, and it begins with Pearl, the delicate, swift swordfighter, going toe-to-toe with Azuron, her sword-headed DinoGem equivalent. Let's proceed with the story, shall we?**

* * *

Azuron was on a walk by himself on the beach nearby the temple, the blue Triceratops' footsteps causing small quakes on the sandy ground. Topazorn had given the DinoGems orders to patrol the surrounding area, in case any corrupted Gems came about. Azuron was glad to be on his own, and not stuck with the childish optimism of Turquasar or the perpetual ill-temper and snide remarks of Onyxcor. It wasn't that he didn't respect them, but Azuron liked most to be by himself, alone with his thoughts, as the smarter one of a group often preferred to be. So far he hadn't run into any Gem monsters, but he stayed vigilant in the event he did.

The Azurite DinoGem then heard something up ahead, a pair of voices accompanied by a pair of small figures. He picked up into a trot, soon coming into view of Steven and Connie, who were sitting on the beach, just talking. Azuron grunted, alerting the children of his presence as he approached. They both turned and waved to the horned dinosaur.

"Hey Azuron!" Steven called. Azuron groaned back in reply, coming up beside the pair.

"Hi, Azuron!" Said Connie, slightly nervous, even though she trusted the DinoGem. "What're you doing?" To respond, Azuron lowered his snout to the ground and began tracing his nose horn through the sand, writing out his reply.

" _Topazorn sent us out to patrol the perimeter."_ Connie read. " _Frankly I could use something else as a waste of my time."_ The two kids laughed at the written remark, and Azuron gave a small smile.

"What's with the patrolling?" Steven asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you turning the temple into a new base or something?" Azuron moaned, exasperated, and sat down beside the children, his huge body stirring up a cloud of sand upon hitting the ground. He then growled, asking what Connie and Steven were up to.

"Oh! I was showing Steven this new book!" Connie said, holding up an interesting-looking book. The cover showed a young woman riding on the back of a gigantic falcon, joined by a Velociraptor and a Centrosaurus, and what looked like a grootslang. "It's the first book of a sequel series to the _Spirit_ _Morph_ Saga!" Azuron tilted his head his confusion. "It's a book series about a girl named Lisa and her familiar, a falcon named Archimicuris, set in an alternate world of magic and adventure! The sequel series is called _Rise of the Ancient Forces_ ; an evil sorcerer kidnaps Lisa and Archimicuris' children and transforms them into dinosaurs! Now they have to find a way to reverse the spell with help from a centuries-old wizard named Methuseloch, who was turned into a grootslang by the same sorcerer!"

"I thought you guys might like it!" Steven said, referring to the other DinoGems. "But you'd have to read the first series first, and read all the books in order-"

"Hold on!" Connie said, looking at her watch. "What time is it? Aren't we supposed to train with Pearl today?"

"Oh! that's right!" Steven said, just remembering. Azuron grunted, wondering what they meant.

"Oh, Connie and me have been training with Pearl how to sword fight! Connie's gotten _really_ good at it!" The indian girl blushed slightly at this, but Azuron was intrigued; children learning combat? It sounded quite interesting, especially to a swordsman(swords-dinosaur?) like himself.

"Come on! We don't wanna be late!" Connie said, placing her book back into her bag and gathering the rest of her things.

"How're we going to get back to the temple in time?" Steven wondered, but Azuron grunted, and lowered himself to the kids' level, offering to give them a ride back to the temple.

"I guess we'll hitch a ride!" Connie said jokingly, and both kids laughed. After awkwardly climbing atop Azuron's head to avoid being pricked by his backful of spiny quills, Steven and Connie held on tightly to the Triceratops' brow horns. Azuron then snorted and pawed the sand, before charging forward at astonishing speed, even faster than Lion! The ride was so fast that it blew back Steven and Connie's hair.

Needless to say, they arrived back at the temple in record time. After dismounting Azuron, Connie and Steven hurried up the stairs to the house. However, Azuron followed them, stepping awkwardly up the steps to the deck.

"Um, Azuron?" Said Steven, noticing. "I don't think the deck will support your weight." But Azuron ignored the comment and insisted upon following the children up to the house, the wooden deck somehow supporting a 10-ton dinosaur. Azuron reached an obstacle, obviously, with the front door. Connie and Steven squeezed passed him, minding his quills, and entered to see Pearl waiting by the warp pad.

"Hey Pearl!" Steven called. "Sorry we're late."

"That's fine, Steven." Pearl said, only then noticing the massive Triceratops attempting to thrust his enormous head through the too-small front door. "Uh...why is he-"

"I think Azuron wants to come with us!" Connie realized. "That's probably why he's trying to get in."

"Ooh! Can he, Pearl?" Steven gushed, stars once more appearing in his eyes.

"W-what?! No!" Pearl rejected. "The training arena is no place for...well, dinosaur-Gem hybrids!" She flinched slightly at the irate snarl that responded.

"But Pearl!" Connie argued. "I'm sure Azuron can help! He even has his own pair of swords!" Azuron backed this up with a haughty grunt and quick flash of the gem shard betwixt his horns, which lit up momentarily.

"Well…" Pearl began, looking down at Steven and Connie's eager faces. "I must be losing my mind, but, ok, he can join us."

"Yes!" Steven cheered.

"But!" Announced Pearl. "He has to behave!" Azuron snorted loudly, as if to say, " _I'm not a mammalian animal companion who must be trained in accordance to the rules of a house!"_

"Anyway, there's no way he'll get in here without destroying the wall, so we'll have to use one of the warp pads outside-"

"Pearl?" Steven interrupted.

"What?" Steven then pointed, showing that Azuron had somehow gotten all the way inside the house without smashing through the door, which looked like it hadn't even been opened. Pearl was understandably a little weirded out. "A...a-alright then!" She said, a drop or two of sweat running down her forehead.

Azuron then headed to the warp pad and stepped on, the others quickly joining him, grumbling at the lack of space. Pearl then activated the pad and the foursome warped away.

* * *

The warp pad high up on the ancient Gem sky arena activated, the glowing stream disappearing to reveal the Gem, human, and two Gem hybrids. Connie, still not used to using the warp, was left floating in midair for a second, but Azuron, thinking quickly, broke her fall by catching her with his tail.

"Woo! Thanks, Azuron." Connie said as she slid off the tail. Azuron grunted kindly in response. Steven, Connie, and Azuron followed Pearl into the arena; the two kids were used to the sights by now, but Azuron had not been to this place in millenia. The Triceratops looked in awe at the ruins, shifting glance from the crumbling pillars to the seating area that once held many spectator Gems. Somewhere in his deep memory, he recalled Azurite fighting here, long ago.

The sound of Pearl clearing her throat brought Azuron back to the present.

"Now," She said, directed at him mostly. "Before we get started, Azuron, I think you should observe first. Steven and Connie have already been training for a while now, and I think watching their moves at first may help." Azuron snorted with an eyeroll, but complied. The dinosaur tromped over to the stands and settled down on the sidelines. He was positive he'd enjoy this.

After changing into her training attire, Connie received her sword from Pearl, and she and Steven stood back as Pearl projected a hologram replica of herself from her gem. Azuron noticed that Steven looked slightly unnerved by this. Pearl then projected three more holo-pearls, who each took swords of their own and partially surrounded Connie and Steven.

"Steven, Connie, make sure to follow the technique you've been learning for the past month." Pearl said, moving to the sidelines. "Everything should go smoothly as long as you stick to what I've been teaching you."

"Yes, Pearl." The children said. Steven then summoned his shield, standing side-by-side with Connie. Azuron was surprised summoning his weapon was so easy for the Gem child.

"And, begin!" At Pearl's command, the holo-pearls' eyes furrowed and turned red. They bared their swords and lunged, but were quickly countered by Steven with his shield. Steven then ducked as Connie leaped over him and swung her blade, slicing one holo-pearl through the waist and causing it to poof away.

Another holo-pearl swung at Connie, who ducked as Steven came up beside her and blocked with his shield, allowing Connie to swiftly slice through the hologram's leg, poofing it again. As Steven and Connie battled the holo-pearls together, Azuron watched with interest. The way the pair worked together, continuously slashing and blocking in almost perfect unison, it was remarkable! The Triceratops swordsman had never seen anyone so young master the sword at the level the two children already had.

Connie thrust her sword, impaling the last holo-pearl through the chest. The hologram poofed, it's sword clattering on the ground.

"Excellent work, you two." Pearl said approvingly.

"Can Azuron get a chance to swordfight now?" Steven asked as his shield vanished. He was secretly highly anticipating the DinoGem's swordfighting.

"Well, I suppose-" Said Pearl, when Azuron grunted and stomped onto the floor, swinging his horns somewhat tauntingly. Pearl huffed and continued.

"Very well, then." She said. "Where would you like to begin?" Pearl projected another hologram copy, but Azuron snorted and shook his head. He lifted his forefoot and waved the hologram away, and instead pointed to Pearl herself.

"I think he's saying he wants to fight _you_." Connie said. Pearl was surprised, but retained her calmness.

"Oh, alright. Shall we begin?" Azuron snorted in concurrence and trotted several paces from Pearl, and turned to face her, lowering his head. Steven and Connie eagerly watched from the stands, while Pearl was contemplating the match that would soon follow. Could she really fight a dinosaur?

While she'd been trained with the sword for thousands of years, by none other than Rose Quartz herself, the DinoGem, Azuron, had several advantages over her. One being much much larger, and with two massive swords attached to his head, not to mention he most likely had tens of millions of years of sword-wielding experience on her. But Pearl had her own advantages; for one, she was much smaller and lighter than the behemoth before her, and thus could easily outmaneuver him. And as far as she knew, he didn't have any secondary Gem powers.

Azuron growled readily, his gem shard glowing and in a flash of white light his brow horns became razor-sharp swords, sabers with a slight curve, not too dissimilar from Pearl's own blade other than being huge.

Pearl took a deep breath, closing her eyes to focus. Connie and Steven watched as the two sword-fighter Gems first bowed to one another, and then the fight began.

Pearl dashed forward, her sword trailing behind her, but Azuron just stood there with his eyes closed, not even moving. When Pearl was seconds away, all of a sudden the Triceratops gave a great leap straight up, careening over the Crystal Gem's head with incredible grace, landing on his hind legs elegantly with a " _thud!"_.

Pearl, Steven and Connie gawked in awe, as Azuron looked at Pearl tauntingly. Balancing on his hind feet, Azuron went on to make a series of extravagant flips and twirls as he showed off his incredibly accuracy, possibly even better than Pearl herself. The dinosaur's intricate and perfectly-balanced movements indeed matched those of the white Gem, with the singular exception of him being bigger and only slightly more limited due to his drastically different body proportions. Even so, Azuron's technique of ballerina/ninja-like movement was stupefying to witness.

When he was done, Azuron came down gracefully on all fours, and stared readily at Pearl, holding his head as one would a sword in anticipation for dueling.

Pearl stared in awe, completely stunned by the dinosaur's performance. She'd never seen anyone of such mass, for lack of a better word, move so flawlessly, so elegantly, other than... _Rose._

Pearl shook these whimsical thoughts from her head, a blush briefly visible on her cheeks. She needed to focus. Azuron, looking at his opponent readily, lowered his huge head and spread his forelegs in preparation to charge, his twin swords shimmering in the sunlight.

Pearl breathed in deeply, and Azuron stood still as a statue, his eyes meeting hers. Then the Gem and the dinosaurs both ran at each other in light, swift steps, and then the duel really began.

Connie winced and Steven watched in amazement as blades clashed with a sharp sting. Pearl and Azuron stood in the center of the arena, the Triceratops' enormous head inches from the Gem's as they held blades for several moments. Pearl then crouched, and swiftly dodged a swing of the horn-sabers before making a lunge for Azuron, immediately countered by the dinosaur.

Pearl stepped back and swung again, and this time Azuron rolled out of the way and reared up, swinging his head low. Pearl sprung into the air and came down at Azuron, and again their swords clattered, blue sparks catching against the blades. Pearl flipped over Azuron's head and landed behind him, and Azuron turned just quickly enough to block her swing with his horn swords yet again.

Azuron swung his head, throwing Pearl off balance for but a moment, then the Crystal Gem felt the wind knocked out of her when the DinoGem smacked her with his tail from behind. Pearl huffed as she hastily picked herself off the floor, a look of determination in her eyes as she pointed her sword at Azuron, who pawed the ground and snorted like a bull.

"C'mon, Pearl! You can do this!" Connie cheered. Pearl smiled briefly, before turning back to her opponent. Azuron charged with a roar, and Pearl clenched her teeth and met him on the center ground, metal clashing once more.

"Oh! I don't know who to root for!" Steven lamented from the stands as the battle continued.

"What do you mean?" Connie asked.

"Well, Pearl's _Pearl_ , but Azuron's a sword-wielding _dinosaur!_ I can't decide who I want to win more!" Swords clashed once again, the force of each wielder's blow enough to pushed them both back several steps. Azuron was drawing in loud breaths; clearly he had underestimated this Gem. Imagine, a Pearl his equal in swordsmanship! But evidently one didn't have to imagine.

Pearl too was getting tired, but she wasn't ready to give up. She now knew that the both of them were equally matched in balance and agility, but Azuron was still much more physically powerful. Pearl would have to use strategy.

Azuron took in a huge breath of air and roared. He then galloped in a half-circle, coming up on Pearl's flank. Pearl tensed her body, and leaped into the air as Azuron's swords bared down. Azuron looked around frantically for a second, when he looked up to see Pearl performing a spin in midair, her sword aimed at him.

Azuron flipped over and shifted his stance just in time as Pearl landed and swung, her saber clattering with his and sparks briefly flying. Steven and Connie gaped, starry-eyed from the stands. The Gem and the dinosaur had reached a stalemate.

Pearl and Azuron glared into one another's eyes as each pushed against the other's sword. Pearl had been in this same situation numerous times before, but with other Gems. Azuron had been here as well, only with other Triceratops before he'd become half-gem. Even so, this Gem was remarkably tough. But Azuron had one more trick up his sleeve…

"Had...enough?" Pearl gasped as a drop of sweat appeared on her forehead(Azuron was just as exhausted, but dinosaurs didn't sweat). Azuron growled, clenching his teeth. Then, quite unexpectedly, he grinned slyly, winked at Pearl, before suddenly vanishing in a flash of blue sparkles.

"W-what the?" Pearl gaped, completely stunned by the DinoGem's disappearance. She looked around frantically, but saw him nowhere.

All of a sudden, something shook the ground as a shadow appeared behind Pearl. She turned to see that Azuron had reappeared, leaning on his hind legs and looking down at her. Pearl barely had time to leap out of the way when Azuron reared up and thrusted his horns straight down where Pearl had been standing.

Pearl sprinted to the other side of the arena and regained her stance, hyperventilation at the shock she'd just had. _What just happened?!_ She thought wildly. But then she got her answer; Azuron turned and grunted at Pearl, before vanishing in a flash of sparkles a second time.

Azuron then suddenly reappeared beside Pearl, who jumped away as the Triceratops scraped his horns on the floor, drawing sparks. _He can teleport?!_ In the stands, Connie and Steven were both at a loss for words. Not only was Azuron just as an amazing swordfighter as Pearl, but he had the added advantage of instant teleportation? _This just got a whole lot crazier._ Thought both children.

Azuron stomped the ground and roared, calling for Pearl to make her move. Pearl, however, had quickly lost confidence when Azuron revealed the massive advantage he had. But Pearl couldn't afford to let these doubts cloud her judgement. She shook the whirring thoughts from her head and took a deep breath, focusing her mind on what lay ahead.

Azuron was first to advance, charging toward Pearl with his swords hung low. Pearl furrowed her brow and did the same, her feet hardly touching the ground as she ran forwards.

Before meeting in battle, Pearl made a flying leap at Azuron, who teleported away in a second, reappearing in the air behind Pearl as she touched down. Azuron landed hard on his feet, skidding along the arena floor momentarily. Both of them were growing tired, as evident by their rapid breathing and forced determined gazes.

Steven and Connie were watching closely as the Gems continually clattered iron, worry marking their features.

"I don't think this will end well." Steven said, clearly anxious for both Pearl and Azuron's sake.

"Neither do I." Connie agreed.

Swords clattered and slashed as the two Gems fought, both with equal amounts agility and force. It was indecisive which had the stamina remaining to win the duel, and both were nearly exhausted from their efforts. Still, neither would back down. But as they were absorbed in combat, they failed to notice how close they were getting to the arena's edge.

Drawing the last of her energy, Pearl came running at Azuron head on. Azuron hurriedly tensed his entire body a Pearl leapt high into the air and came down straight at his head. Azuron reared up the moment Pearl landed between his horns and forcefully swung his head, throwing Pearl off and throwing him off balance.

Azuron thudded to the ground, but Pearl slid across the floor, straight toward the edge. Just as she careened over the cliff, Pearl hastily jammed her sword into the stone and hung for dear life, narrowly avoiding the enormous fall downward.

"PEARL!" Steven and Connie screamed in terror, running down to the arena. Azuron was alerted by their shrieks, and hurried to his feet, dismissing his swords.

Pearl hung by the hilt of her sword, desperately trying to pull herself back up. But the continuous combat throughout the day with Azuron had taxed her strength, and now she could just barely hold on. Even worse, her sword began to slip.

"Oh no." pearl whimpered, her pupils growing tiny.

"Pearl! Pearl! Are you ok?" She heard Steven's voice call. Pearl looked up to see Steven and Connie, anxiously looking down at her.

"Steven! Connie! Get away from the ledge!" Pearl cried, even worse concerned for their safety than hers at the moment. Pearl's grip slipped up again, and she scrambled to hold on. All of a sudden, an anxious growl preceded Azuron pushing Connie and Steven back away from the edge with his front legs. Not making a sound, Azuron cautiously leaned over the ledge, reaching his bare horns down toward the distressed Pearl.

Azuron grunted for Pearl to grab his brow horn, and pressed his forefeet against the ledge to balance himself. He growled for Pearl to hurry.

Pearl looked down, not even able to see the ground below her. Then she looked back to Azuron, who was desperately trying not to slip. Deciding not to think at such a moment, Pearl reached on hand forward and clasped the tip of Azuron's horn, and hurriedly pulled herself up to grab the other.

Feeling Pearl firmly grasp his horns, Azuron pushed back with his hind legs and reared up, swinging his head, Pearl, and the rest of his body to safety atop the ledge. Pearl dropped gently onto the floor, and Azuron stepped away to catch his breath.

"Pearl!" Steven and Connie called as they ran up, both quickly embracing Pearl in a tight hug.

"Are you two ok?" Pearl anxiously asked.

"Are _you_ ok?" Whined Steven with worry. Pearl was silent for a moment, her thoughts going back to what had just happened.

"Yes Steven, I'm alright." Pearl said, smiling. She then wrapped her arms around the children, sighing in relief. Azuron then grunted, calling the trio's attention.

Azuron was standing before them with his head raised regally. Due to the unfortunate accident, he believed he had won, and was expecting to be acknowledged for it. Pearl stood up and stepped toward the dinosaur, but instead of relinquishing victory to him, she looked into his eyes and smiled softly.

"Thank you, Azuron." She said. Azuron honestly did not expect this.

"It's getting late." Connie pointed out. "I should probably be getting home by now."

"Yes." Pearl concurred, breathing out. "I think we should all head home." Pearl, Steven, and Connie turned and left for the warp pad, Azuron following behind.

"That was awesome, Pearl!" Steven said as the foursome crossed the arena. "I never knew you could jump like that!"

"Oh, well, thank you, Steven." Pearl replied with a blush.

"And those stances!" Connie gushed. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Well, maybe." Pearl said, giving a light chuckle. "But for now I think we should stick to what you already know." Connie agreed to this.

Azuron didn't get it; he'd fairly won the duel, why wasn't he getting attention? He snorted grumpily as they climbed onto the warp. After Connie got her clothes, Pearl activated the pad and they warped away in the stream.

* * *

When they returned to the temple, it was already late evening. After getting changed, Connie said goodbye to Steven, Pearl, and Azuron before heading down the steps and starting the walk up the beach toward home.

Back inside, Pearl ran her fingers through her hair. She was very tired from the fight that afternoon, as was Azuron, though he didn't show it.

"Steven, perhaps you should get ready for bed." She suggested. "I'll be in my room." Pearl walked past Azuron, who still stood on the warp pad. She briefly acknowledged him, before activating the temple door with her gem, stepping into her waterfall-filled room. She was tempted to try that sleeping thing again tonight.

Azuron grunted irritably, stepping off the warp toward the door. Steven was taking off his star shirt, when he noticed how grumpy the Triceratops seemed.

"What's up, Azuron?" The Quartz child asked. Azuron snorted and rolled his eyes, turning away. "Something bugging you?" The dinosaur snarled and glared.

"Hey, fair's fair." Said Steven. "Nobody really won, I guess. So there's nothing to grumble about." But Azuron snorted, trying to make it clear to the boy that _he_ had won.

"Well, I think it was still a tie, Azuron. But if you think you technically won because of what happened, then that's fine. I still think you and Pearl are both amazing swordfighters!" Steven then left to get into his pajamas, leaving Azuron to contemplate what he'd said. The trike was very confused; Pearl had lost, and shouldn't have been getting any praise. But clearly, this wasn't so.

After grunting goodbye to Steven, Azuron flashed out of the house in a shimmer of sparkles, reappearing outside on the beach.

Topazorn and Turquasar were grazing on the lawn in front of the beach house, while Onyxcor was tearing meat off of a giant fish he'd caught at some point earlier in the day. The Stegosaurus and Iguanodon grunted in acknowledgement as Azuron joined them, and Onyxcor just looked before resuming eating. As Azuron ate his share, his mind was deep in thought.

Later, as night fell and the lights of the beach house were turned off, Azuron bedded down underneath the deck with the other dinosaurs. Unlike the rest of them, he would not find sleep tonight, for had a lot to think about.

* * *

 **And there you have it! I hope I got characterization right. The next chapter will follow Garnet and Topazorn, and the chapter after _that_ will follow Amethyst, Steven, and Turquasar. **

**A/N: I will try to continue updates consistently over the next few weeks, at least until I complete the first big event in this fic. Cheers!**


	5. Chapter 5: Topazorn's Universe

**Hello again! Sorry this chapter took so long. I find it hard to focus when preoccupied with opportunities for new ideas.**

 **Anyway, here's chapter 5, at long last. This one details Garnet on an everyday mission to find and capture a corrupted Gem, only a certain someone tags along.**

* * *

Out on the ancient Gem Battlefield strewn with giant strawberry plants, a warp stream suddenly illuminated the surrounding area. When it dissipated, standing there was Garnet. The fusion Gem had gone off on one of her solo missions, having already used her future vision to determine that bringing the others along would most likely not end well. Thus she went alone.

But that state of being would not last. Only minutes after Garnet stepped off the warp pad, it suddenly activated again, catching Garnet off-guard. The fusion turned to see Topazorn, the Stegosaurus leader of the DinoGems, appearing out of the warp stream.

"What're you doing here?" Garnet asked the Gem saurian, noticeably referring to him as an equal being, rather than simple animal. Topazorn grunted as he stepped off the warp pad. Earlier that day, he'd seen Garnet leave by herself on the temple warp, and he'd followed on one of the warps outside on the temple statue's hand. Never mind how he'd known where she was going.

Topazorn walked a few steps past Garnet, sniffing around the bushes with his small head. He soon found something, and with a clench of his beak and a strong jerk of his head, he tore up an entire patch of rooted vines and dispatched them easily. Topazorn looked down at what he'd found, smelling around it. Garnet, intrigued, walked over to see for herself.

Topazorn had found a strange footprint in the mud, which led into a trail of them leading north. Topazorn growled and furrowed his brow. _A corrupted Gem._ Garnet realized. It had to have come through the area recently, as the tracks were still fresh. Topazorn then reared up, standing tall on his hind legs and leaning back on his tail for support. He lifted his head and shut his eyes for several moments, standing perfectly still. _What's he doing?_ Garnet wondered. After a moment, the golden Stegosaurus grunted and fell back on all fours, and started off in a slow trot, following the footprints. Garnet removed her shades, revealing her three eyes. What was the DinoGem up to? Could he smell Gems? Still, he seemed to be sure of his path, and so Garnet decided to follow him.

Topazorn was indeed sure of himself. He and the DinoGems had tracked and fought corrupted Gems many, many times over the last few thousand years, and each of them was perfectly capable of handling one on their own. But Topazorn was their leader, as well as the strongest out of the four dinosaurs, and so he was the one to go by himself most often.

It was rare for the DinoGems to have stayed in one place for an extended period; for millions of years after all the other dinosaurs were wiped out, the four DinoGems had only each other as genuine company. They'd traveled the earth many times over during the slow healing period, and they helped usher in the new age. They had helped to bring the tiny mammals out of hiding underground, and led them into the light, where they could live in peace and prosper over generations. Everything was all well and balanced for many millions of years, until the Gems returned and began attempts to colonize earth. Topazorn did not like to think about that time. None of the DinoGems did.

Upon learning that corrupted Gems had become a problem on earth, the four dinosaurs had set about hunting them, traveling all over the world. Like the Crystal Gems, the DinoGems had pledged to protect the earth and all life that covered it, and the Gem monsters were a definite threat, thus they had to be dealt with.

Garnet walked beside Topazorn, keeping pace with the bigger Gem hybrid. Like most of the time, her expression was stoic and unreadable, but inside her mind was whirring. _How did they become half-Gems?_ She couldn't help but wonder. _I don't want to assume_ that _way, but how else could it have happened?_ But Garnet could only see the future and not the past, and therefore the only way she'd know how the DinoGems had become so was if they told it themselves, and that obviously wasn't going to happen.

Ever since Rose, well 'died' wasn't the best way of properly explaining it, but nevertheless; ever since then, Garnet had been the one who the Crystal Gems looked to in times of crisis, the boss, as Amethyst would often say. Her status as a fusion made her the strongest out of all the Crystal Gems, and with her swift thinking and leader-like nature, she was an ideal pick. Nobody could ever replace Rose, of course, but at least they still had a part of her in Steven.

Speaking of Steven, Garnet was impressed how he'd gotten so close to the DinoGems so quickly; it was likely due to how similar they were in terms of being, hybrids of both Gems and organic beings. Garnet being Garnet, she'd often listened to Steven's random wonderings about things he knew about, and dinosaurs were among them(it had also led to a particularly destructive situation with Amethyst). From what she'd gathered, dinosaurs weren't that different from any other earth creatures besides humans; the DinoGems, however, were clearly intelligent, obviously coming from their Gem side. But how? There wasn't any record of planet earth before the first attempt at colonization, and as far as she knew dinosaurs were strictly earth-bound. Somehow, these four dinosaurs had become half Gem and survived the extinction that destroyed all the others. Garnet, for one, was glad said extinction wasn't due to Gem interference.

Topazorn's tail was absently swishing from side-to-side next to Garnet, giving her a good view of the Stegosaurus' gem on his thagomizer. She could plainly see that the topaz between Topazorn's first and second pair of spikes was no more than a large shard. _That's interesting._ The fusion thought. Normally shards could only reform a single piece of the Gem's original physical form, resulting in an agonizing partial existence. The fact that the DinoGems had physical, organic bodies, like Steven, must've allowed them to survive with only a single shard.

All of a sudden, Topazorn stopped. He sniffed the air, and growled suspiciously. Garnet quickly summoned her gauntlets and looked around, but saw nothing. Topazorn was however clearly agitated; he spread out his legs and held his bulky form low to the ground, his tail swishing back and forth rapidly. He snarled deeply, constantly averting his gaze to check every surrounding. Garnet was getting an anxious feeling too, but it was like the Stegosaurus could _sense_ another presence.

Then, the monster appeared out of nowhere.

Topazorn roared and Garnet leapt out of the way as the huge monster slammed its clawed hand on the ground. Topazorn turned to face the beast, stamping the ground with a threatening roar as Garnet raised her armored fists. The corrupted Gem was at least 30 feet tall, with a muscular, hairy body and a wild mane of purple hair, with black eyes and a draconic head with razor-sharp fangs.

Topazorn roared and swung his tail threateningly, not yet summoning his tail-flail. The Gem monster snarled and swung a clawed arm at the Stegosaurus, who dodged at the last second. Topazorn galloped around the monster in a circle, swift enough to dodge every grab it made for him. Topazorn bellowed monstrously, taunting the Gem monster. It roared back and lunged for him, when Garnet jumped and landed a massive blow square in the monster's head, knocking it flat on its back.

Topazorn grunted in annoyance when Garnet landed. He had had the situation under control, and there was no need for the fusion to interfere. The Gem monster scrambled to its feet and snarled, drool cascading from its toothy jaws. Topazorn roared back, his tail lighting up as he summoned his flail. The heavy, spiked ball dented the ground as it landed. Topazorn swung his tail, whipping the end into the air and swinging it around skillfully.

The monster growled and lunged on all fours, and Topazorn swung his tail and smashed the monster in the jaw with his flail, making it recoil in pain. Topazorn snorted and charged the towering monster, halting abruptly so his flail careened into the monster's forehead. Topazorn roared tauntingly, but then the monster roared and charged him back. Topazorn ran left, his flail dragging behind him. He swung his hips forward, throwing his flail at the monster and wrapping it around the corrupted Gem's arm. Topazorn bucked and yanked his flail back, pulling the monster's arm out from under it and causing it to crash into the dirt.

The monster screeched demonically as it pushed itself up, then Garnet rushed ahead and repeatedly punched and kicked the monster all over it's body. The beast repeatedly tried to grab her and snap her in its jaws, but just missed every time. Garnet punched the monster in the jaw again, narrowly dodging a snap of its teeth, when all of a sudden Topazorn charged the Gem monster, and Garnet barely had time to jump before the dinosaur rammed the monster head-on, knocking it on its back again.

Garnet hit the ground hard, forming a small crater. The fusion Gem cracked her knuckles before charging back into the fray; Topazorn was repeatedly taunting the Gem monster before lashing out with swings of his flail, and several times came extremely close to being hit.

Garnet came running and made a flying leap, her fist coming down on the monster's foot. The Gem monster growled in pain and stomped, but Topazorn roared angrily at Garnet, as if to say " _I've got this under control, so let_ me _handle it!"_ But while Topazorn was distracted, the monster took the opportunity to swing its tail at him.

"Topazorn!" Garnet cried. But she was too late as the monster hit the Stegosaurus hard with its spiked tail, knocking Topazorn into the air briefly before he crashed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dirt and dust around him.

Garnet charged the Gem monster and jumped at it, baring her fist in rage, when suddenly, it vanished!

"Oh clods." Garnet said casually, before crashing headfirst into the ground. She pushed herself up to see the invisible corrupted Gem running off, it's footsteps the only indication. Garnet then heard a drawn-out groan, and turned to see Topazorn struggling to his feet, his flail disappearing. The Stegosaurus grunted and shook the dirt off his plates, then turned to follow the corrupted Gem's tracks.

"Are you alright?" Garnet asked, dismissing her gauntlets. Topazorn snorted in response; he wasn't as concerned. He began following the Gem monster's tracks once more, but Garnet stopped him.

"Wait, Topazorn. We can't just go after it again;" Topazorn growled and stopped. "Obviously, if it could beat us both once, we won't stand much of a chance attacking randomly a second time." Topazorn growled in frustration; he had thought he had the situation under control, that he could handle the monster by himself, and didn't need the fusion's assistance. Garnet was beginning to try his patience.

Twisting his tail, Topazorn scrawled a response in the dirt; " _What do you propose we do, then?"_ It read. Garnet had to think for a moment; she was positive that, if they were able to work together, she and Topazorn could successfully defeat the corrupted Gem. Topazorn, however, didn't appear open to cooperation.

Topazorn looked like he too was busy contemplating something. But something entirely different was on his mind.

"Look, Topazorn;" Garnet said, getting the Stegosaur's attention. "I'm sure that either of us could defeat the Gem monster on our own, eventually, but it would be much quicker and easier if we both worked together." After a moment, Topazorn groaned and nodded, seeming to say, " _Very well; if it will work."_

"Alright then." Garnet smiled. "Can you track the Gem down again?" Topazorn snorted a yes, then paused briefely, before moving into a steady trot the way the corrupted Gem had gone, Garnet following. As the fusion observed, the DinoGem leader both followed the tracks and smelled around, but he appeared to be primarily using something else to track down the monster, some kind of invisible sixth sense.

Most Gems had secondary abilities unique to them; Garnet herself, thanks to Sapphire, possessed future vision, and Ruby had fire powers. Quartzes like Amethyst had roll attacks, Rose could control plants, Pearl could store things in her gem and project from it, and all Gems could make light beams from their gems. The day before, Steven had informed Garnet that Azuron, the Triceratops DinoGem, could teleport. Garnet wondered what other secrets these DinoGems weren't telling them about.

As Garnet followed behind Topazorn, the Stegosaurus looked at her. She was a fusion, the DinoGems could sense it on her the day they'd met. Onyxcor, particularly, wasn't a fan of the act of fusing, but he'd still do so if the situation called for it. Likewise, Azuron was no fan of it either, only willing to fuse if ordered by Topazorn. Turquasar had fused on some occasions, and the Iguanodon saw nothing negative about the concept, and so didn't understand Azuron and Onyxcor's dislike of it, and he'd only ever fused with Topazorn.

As for Topazorn, he too respected fusion. Not only did it make two of them much fiercer and stronger in combat, but it allowed both to focus their attacks much more fluidly as a single being. The DinoGems had rarely fused in the past few million years, and whenever they did it was never for very long.

That brought Topazorn's thoughts back to Garnet, the perma-fusion walking beside him. She was an utter mystery. For some reason, her component Gems were fused indefinitely, regardless of situation. Topazorn, even with his vast reasoning, had no idea as to why. He thought of asking her personally, but it seemed like a personal matter. And Topazorn was nothing if not polite.

Still, the thought plagued him, but eventually his mind turned to Steven. The boy who was half human and half Gem. It was clear that he didn't become that way as the DinoGems did, as he possessed a full gem, which he could only have formed, or been born, with. He too was a mystery. Topazorn didn't know how it was possible for a Gem and an organic being to cross-procreate, which ironically made more sense than the DinoGems' origin.

Besides that, Steven had a magnetic personality; so far he'd introduced the DinoGems to just about everyone he knew in the few days since they'd moved in. Rarely had the DinoGems ever interacted with humans in their time, focussed more on the earth they walked on. Now, however, Topazorn was beginning to think that contact with human beings, as the Crystal Gems had had for many years, could be worthwhile.

When the DinoGems had learned of Steven Universe's nature, they pledged to protect him. They did not know that he already had guardians in the Crystal Gems, but upon meeting them, the DinoGems still considered themselves better at the task. As Onyxcor had rather bluntly put it, a Pearl, a runt Quartz, and a fusion could never keep him safe, especially from the dangers the four of them knew of. The other night, however, Azuron had returned with a surprising story; he'd tagged along with Steven and his human friend, Connie, when they'd gone to combat-training with Pearl. Onyxcor laughed. A Pearl, teaching swordsmanship? The T. rex found the idea laughable. But Azuron had gone on to explain that the small Gem had displayed incredible agility, balance, and control during his match with her, and even admitted how close she came to beating him. And Steven didn't seem to care whether or not anyone won or lost. The DinoGems did not fully understand this, but they let it be regardless.

* * *

As Topazorn led the way the corrupted Gem had gone, he soon stopped and froze. He grunted sharply to Garnet, and dashed behind a large boulder that was big enough to hide him. Garnet followed, silent as a bubbled Gem. Garnet and Topazorn peeked out from behind the rock, but the only sign of movement on the former battlefield was a large, camel-like animal with a trunk, placidly munching on the giant strawberries.

All of a sudden, the bushes nearby shifted irregularly, as if being pushed aside. Knowing what it was, Topazorn hastily ran into the open and roared, alerting the critter to run as the Gem monster appeared with a wild screech.

Topazorn bellowed at the corrupted Gem, swinging his tail threateningly. Garnet then jumped out from behind the rock, her armored gauntlets appearing once again on her hands.

"Topazorn," She said, eyeing the monster. "Let me distract it first, then you come in and catch it off guard. It's the only attempt that will work." Reluctantly, Topazorn nodded in agreement with a grunt. After the last attempt, it was clear that both Gems had to work together to take this one on. The corrupted Gem roared monstrously, and came charging with its jaws open wide. Garnet leapt high into the air and gave the beast a hard punch in the teeth, knocking it off balance. Then she jumped off and landed by its feet, and managed to land several blows to the monster's knees before it tried to crush her.

Topazorn called out at the monster, distracting it several times so Garnet could land a hit on it. The Stegosaurus was actually impressed by how good the fusion was a single combat, even against a much larger foe. Before, he would've dismissed this due to her fused status, but now that he was watching closely, he realized that, besides the strength of her component Gems(which, given Garnet's height, likely weren't very big), Garnet appeared to have increased strength of her very own. Like she was her very own Gem…

Garnet jumped at the monster again, but all of a sudden if swatted her into the ground and roared. It now knew what to expect from her. As Garnet struggled to stand back up, the monster lunged for her with a savage growl, when out of nowhere a golden flail shot toward the beast and wrapped around its arm holding it back. Angrily, the monster growled and yanked the chain hard, unwittingly pulling Topazorn toward it like a cannonball.

Garnet cringed as several tons of Stegosaurus collided with corrupted Gem face at severe momentum. The blow was strong enough to knock the monster down into a roll. The ground trembled at Topazorn's feet as he landed in front of Garnet, roaring ferociously at the Gem monster. The corrupted Gem screeched monstrously as it heaved itself up, Topazorn staring it down as he lashed his flail.

The monster lunged, but Topazorn countered by swinging his hips and throwing his flail into the Gem's head yet again. Both roared wildly, and Topazorn attacked with a whirlwind of swings and blows, hitting the monster and quickly retracting his flail before lashing out once more. Topazorn stood protectively between Garnet and the monster, attacking his enemy with both ferocity and grace.

However, Topazorn could do nothing when the monster grabbed his chain in the moment of retracting it. The Stegosaur's eyes widened in dread, before the Gem monster yanked him off his feet by his own flail and brought him crashing into the ground, heaving up a shower of dirt. Topazorn rumbled at the ache as he pushed himself out of the crater, to see the monster lunge at him with its claws. However, the monster the distracted by loud whooshing noise, and out of nowhere came Garnet's gauntlets, flying into the monster's chest and toppling it over in an explosion. The monster roared, and Garnet came running, a new set of gauntlets reappearing where her hands had been. Topazorn roared and charged the monster with Garnet, and aimed low while she aimed high.

The monster snapped its jaws at Garnet, who responded by slamming her fists down on its nose. The monster kicked and stomped its feet, only for Topazorn to bash its legs with his flail to distract it while Garnet landed the heavy blows. The DinoGem leader had to admit, she was very adept at this, to politely say the least.

The corrupted Gem was losing control, evident by how ferociously it screamed at the duo and thrashed wildly to get a hit at them. Topazorn roared back, when the monster swung its tail at him.

"Topazorn!" Garnet warned, but too late when the dinosaur was smacked and thrown over a hundred feet away with a hard landing. While Garnet was distracted, the corrupted Gem took the chance to swat her like a fly, tossing her into the ground alongside the DinoGem. The two of them groaned as they shook the dirt off their bodies, and turned at the corrupted Gem's sinister cry as it stalked toward them menacingly. Topazorn turned to it and roared, but it was clear that he was tiring. Garnet, in a flash of using her future vision, came up with an idea.

"Topazorn, I know how we can beat this Gem!" The fusion then whispered into the Stegosaur's ear, and he nodded with a grunt.

The Gem monster screeched, but Topazorn roared back with renewed vigor. His flail appeared on his thagomizer once again, and he charged toward the monster, swinging his weapon with Garnet coming up behind him, ready to latch onto the spiked ball. It appeared they were going to hit one another head-on, when in a split second Topazorn skidded to a rapid halt and swung his entire rear body forward in a hand-stand, the momentum slinging his flail and launching Garnet like a missile, aiming straight for the gem on the monster's chest. The corrupted Gem had no time to react before Garnet's fists slammed into it, the massive blow enough to cause the monster's physical form to burst into vapor and a crack to appear down the middle of its gem.

Garnet landed elegantly on her feet and dismissed her gauntlets in a flash of light, cracking her knuckles in relief afterwards. The monster's gem then landed in the dirt, the crack clearly visible, but it wasn't too bad. Topazorn trotted up with a throaty rumble, impressed how well Garnet's plan worked. The Stegosaurus turned his gaze to the gem by their feet, and with a snort raised his foot to crush it under his weight.

"Wait! Topazorn, don't!" Garnet cried in almost horror. Topazorn paused, looking at Garnet awkwardly as he knelt down and took the gem in her hands, encasing it inside a pink bubble. Topazorn watched as Garnet hovered the bubble over the hand, and with a wave, sent it in a flash back to the burning room in the crystal temple. The golden Stegosaurus grunted, asking why Garnet did that. She seemed to understand, because she removed her shades, revealing her third eye to him.

"Topazorn." She began. "The Crystal Gems have made it our mission to capture all the corrupted Gems left on earth, with the intent to try and heal them." Topazorn moaned with interest. "We don't know what corrupts these Gems, but until we find a way to help them, we keep them contained inside the temple, where they won't harm anyone or themselves." Garnet went on to the next part with a pained expression. "Many of them were Crystal Gems as well. And, for now, keeping them contained is the only thing we know of that can help them. Do you understand now, Topazorn?"

The Stegosaurus DinoGem stared at the ground with a knowing grunt. Indeed, he did understand. He understood very well. He turned away from Garnet and began walking back toward the warp pad, and she followed in silence. The Stegosaur's mind was quite active; often had the DinoGems encountered corrupted Gems in their recent travels, and every time they successfully defeated one, it's gem would be crushed, shattered under one of their feet. Topazorn thought back millions of years, back to before the DinoGems had come to be. Perhaps that loss was the deep-rooted reason for the DinoGems' aggressiveness when dealing with corrupted Gem monsters. Perhaps it was.

Soon enough, Garnet and Topazorn, walking side-by-side, returned to the warp pad and stepped on. Topazorn was silent as Garnet activated it, but he looked at her as they zoomed upward in the stream. He'd misjudged her, and perhaps her entire team.

* * *

The warp on the Gem temple's hand lit up, and the fusion and the dinosaur were left standing there when it vanished(Garnet hadn't used her future vision; she'd just had the foresight to warp back outside the house). Topazorn gave her an acknowledging look and a small smile before leaping down onto the sand, and Garnet gave a smile back. As she headed back to the beach house, she noticed Steven and Amethyst were on the beach, seemingly not doing anything. She couldn't help but wonder what they were waiting around for.

As Topazorn headed back to where the DinoGems had set up under the beach house, he saw Azuron was grazing and Onyxcor was laying down on a rock in the sun, one of the T. rex's favorite pastimes. However, he noticed that Turquasar was nowhere to be found. The Stegosaurus deduced that he was spending time with Steven or perhaps Amethyst. The Iguanodon had gotten rather close to that pair from what he'd seen over the last few days.

Topazorn's mind was elsewhere, however. Garnet had shown great strength back there, not just of the fist but of the mind and form as well. Clearly, her component Gems were perfectly in sync, possibly in a way he didn't even understand, yet. It almost reminded him of another particular pair of Gems, only without the fused part.

Topazorn grunted to Azuron, and trotted over to join him for a meal. His thoughts rolled about inside his head, and he would be sure tell the other DinoGems about what he'd seen, and learned, today.

Then, something massive burst out of the ocean.

* * *

 **And...cliffhanger! Not to worry, chapter 6 will cover how that part at the end happened, and chapter 7 will detail the outcome. For now, enjoy some characterization of the head DinoGem.**

 **A/N: Following the two chapters after this one, may be a (hopefully) brief hiatus. I know, that's the opposite of what y'all want to hear, but I want to focus on other projects, not to mention I have school to think about. Cheers!**


	6. Chapter 6: Something Very Bad Happens

**Greetings! I've returned. I've been working all week on this chapter and I'm in a hurry to start the next one before "In Too Deep" starts. This chapter may seem a bit long and trivial, but frankly I don't think it could have gone very different. Enjoi!**

* * *

Turquasar the Iguanodon was usually the first of the DinoGems to awake every morning. His favorite thing to do was to watch the sun gracefully rise over the horizon, as its heavenly glow spread across the sea and the land, and the clouds turned glorious colors of brown and gold, in contrast to the reds, oranges and purples of the sunset. As the youngest, it made sense that he was earliest to rise, but sometimes he liked to sleep in, and then Topazorn would awaken him with the others.

Turquasar let out a deep, rumbling groan as he stretched his arms and back, shaking the rest of his body awake down to his tail. After adjusting his visor, the Iguanodon Gem rose up on his muscular legs and strode out from under Steven's house, careful not to disturb Onyxcor, Azuron, or Topazorn. Turquasar jumped down from the grassy path onto a grassy area by the temple statue's leg, where a cluster of small trees grew. Rising up on his hind legs, Turquasar pulled down some branches and began tearing off the succulent leaves and soft stalks in his beak, grinding them effortlessly in his multitude of iguana-like teeth, for which his kind was named after. While Topazorn and Azuron had fed primarily on grass ever since it evolved, Turquasar found he simply couldn't make the switch from ferns, trees and shrubbery to the wispy ground plant. His teeth were more than likely suited for it, but he relished the taste if leaves and stalks much better. He was also a big fan of fruit when it was available, not to mention anything Steven offered, especially donuts.

After filling his cavernous stomach, Turquasar dropped back on all fours and trotted down onto the sandy beach, settling onto the statue's knee to watch the glowing sunrise, as his favorite part of the day unfolded before him.

Later on, the four DinoGems were going about their personal business, eating, taking patrol of the perimeter, and training individually. Topazorn was smashing boulders with his flail, imagining them to be advancing enemies, while Azuron practiced his agility and balancing skills against a hologram version of himself. He didn't create them very often, but after seeing how well the hologram technique worked for Pearl the day before, he decided to try it again himself. While Azuron was occupied with that, Onyxcor was busy ramming his head into the cliff, uprooting nearby trees with his bare teeth, and crushing rocks to gravel with his jaw mask. The Tyrannosaur's version of self-training was evidently much more vicious and roughhouse-y than his comrades. For himself, Turquasar preferred merely pounding the hard rock face of the cliff with his gauntleted hands, at a few points accidentally shaking a large boulder loose, which Topazorn hastily smashed to dust before it could crush the young Iguanodon. After the most recent such incident, Turquasar offered an apologetic grunt, to which the Stegosaurus snorted in annoyance.

After a while of obliterating numerous rocks, Turquasar decided to take a break and get a drink of fresh water. After drinking his fill from a pond behind one of the temple's arms, Turquasar looked up to see Topazorn trotting up the path to the beach house. Wanting to investigate, Turquasar walked out until he could see Topazorn climbing onto the temple's hand and rearing up to look inside the house, as the distinct sound of an activating warp pad caught the Iguanodon's attention. Topazorn then grunted and fell back onto all fours, carefully trotting over the temple's outstretched arm to the warp pad on its lower hand, where Steven kept his freshly-washed clothes out to dry.

Curious as to what his leader was up to, Turquasar trotted up to the temple's hand with a honk to make his presence known. Topazorn stopped and turned to the turquoise-green ornithopod as he trotted up, looking up at the Stegosaur curiously. Turquasar asked what Topazorn was doing in a series of deep honks, to which the Stegosaurus Gem replied with a rumble that he was going on a solo mission. Still curious, Turquasar asked hopefully if he could go as well, which Topazorn quickly shot down with a snorting grunt. Topazorn then stepped onto the warp, the shard on his tail glowing briefly before the huge dinosaur vanished into the stream, warping off to wherever he was going. Turquasar snorted and made his way back to the beach house to lie down for a rest.

* * *

Inside the house, the temple door glowed, and Amethyst exited into Steven's room. The short purple Gem was bored, and so decided to fix the problem the problem by, instead of laying around in her temple room, laying around inside the beach house. As usual, the first place she turned to was the fridge. Opening the door, she grabbed a large, half-eaten sandwich she'd been saving and sat down on a stool, taking a fairly huge bite out of her "snack". Amethyst ate things solely because she enjoyed it, which often led to a number of abnormal concoctions on her plate. This was a blatant parallel she had to Pearl, who was disgusted by the notion of eating altogether.

The mention of Pearl tilted Amethyst's thoughts toward the lanky Gem. For a very long time, the two of them had been polar opposites. Not to say they weren't anymore, but before they could almost never get along. This was particularly evident by how difficult it was for them to fuse in the past, only able to do it in drastic situations, such as when Steven was eaten alive or the Homeworld Gems first arrived that one time. More recently, however, Pearl and Amethyst had gotten a tad closer, and when she thought about it, it was all thanks to Steven. She recollected that particular time when the pair of them 'ran away', winding up at the Kindergarten where Amethyst had formed. Amethyst didn't enjoy that specific memory, but the past was in the past.

Speaking of the past, Amethyst could hear someone from it snoring loud enough to shake the floorboards. She shrugged, eating up the rest of her sandwich in a second, and made her way to the front porch. Turquasar was only half asleep, constantly rolling onto his back and turning onto his other side, his bulk leaning on the supports of the house. He lazily scratched an itch on his flank using the grassy ground, when from overhead someone called.

"Hey, Turquasar! Look out below!" And before the Iguanodon could so much as open his eye, he felt a tremendous impact on his stomach, jolting him awake. Turquasar shook his head with a groan, turning to see Amethyst lounging atop his scaly body.

"Hey, dino-boy!" The purple Gem said, leaning against Turquasar's hip. "Mind if I lay here?" Turquasar honked, allowing it. He and Amethyst had befriended one another rather quickly, probably stemming from their mutual like of eating, lazing about when not at work, and loud, boisterous remedies to their boredom. Just the other day, Turquasar had followed Amethyst to a rocky quarry in the warp pad, where they destroyed rocks of numerous sizes for several hours in play.

After some time, Turquasar yawned deeply and pushed himself up to stretch his legs. At his leaving, Amethyst promptly fell over in the dirt.

"Hey! Where you goin'?" She called after him. Turquasar grunted passively, and began trotting off. "Eh. I've got nothing better to do." Amethyst shrugged, before running up to the Iguanodon and grabbing onto his tail, flipping herself up onto his back. The pair were about to leave for wherever, when they heard Steven call from the house.

"Hey! You guys! Wait up!" He called. Turquasar waited as Steven clambered down the stairs, running up to him and Amethyst.

"Hey, Ste-man!" Amethyst called while laying on her stomach atop the dinosaur's back. "What's up?"

"Connie texted me to meet her at Funland Arcade so we can hang out, and I was wondering if I could hitch a ride, maybe?" It seemed that Steven needed transport to hang out with his human pal, and gladly Turquasar obliged. He gestured for Steven to hop on with a grunt and a smile, and Steven excitedly said thanks and grabbed onto Turquasar's lowered tail, and then he was catapulted into the air, landing neatly on the curve of the Iguanodon's neck next to Amethyst. Turquasar then snorted, telling his small passengers to hang on before rising up on his powerful hind legs, and sprinting off over the beach.

From the beach house, the little Gem Peridot watched them leave from the window, scowling in the same turtle frown she usually wore. Even though she had never truly interacted with them yet, she did not like these 'DinoGems'. She assumed they were no different from the blasted Crystal Gems, whom she very much despised. Humphing to herself, Peridot unwittingly caught the attention of Azuron, who looked up at her. Upon meeting the Triceratops' gaze, Peridot promptly squeaked and ran back to Steven's bathroom, while Azuron titled his head inquisitively.

* * *

Very much like before, the people of Beach City stared nervously as Turquasar made his way through town, though he was alone this time, with the exception of Steven and Amethyst atop his back. Unlike the other DinoGems, Turquasar looked intently at the humans he passed by. The others would usually have ignored them, but for a long time Turquasar had been fascinated by the human species. The Iguanodon thought that if they shared the earth with them, then the DinoGems should get to know all other creatures. However, his fascination and curiosity would often lead to him getting scolded by Topazorn or Azuron. Soon enough the trio reached the arcade, where Connie was waiting by the entrance.

"Hey Steven!" She called when her friends had approached.

"Hey Connie! Steven called back.

"'Sup?" Amethyst said idly, still lounging on Turquasar's back. The DinoGem himself gave a jovial honk as greeting, before rearing up and arching his back so that Steven slid down his tail Flintstones-style, landing on his feet right in front of Connie and nearly falling over. Amethyst couldn't help but laugh.

"So, wanna go inside?" Connie offered, and Amethyst slid off Turquasar to join Steven and Connie as they went off to have some fun. Turquasar was content with waiting outside, when Connie turned back.

"You could come in with us if you want, Turquasar." She offered. Turquasar responded with a joyful bellow, before quickly ducking under the high entrance way to follow his companions. Due to being roughly 10 feet tall at the shoulder, the Iguanodon had some trouble standing up inside the building, in fact he had to bend his knees and shuffle to avoid knocking his head into the rafters. He followed behind Connie, Steven, and Amethyst, and when the four of them turned a corner, Turquasar wasn't watching his tail and accidentally knocked over several people and arcade games with it. Turquasar looked back and gulped at the damage. He offered a wave and an apologetic smile to the arcade-goers he'd involuntarily hit, but at the sight of the huge reptile the teenagers screamed and ran away.

"That's alright, Turquasar." Steven said to his dinosaur friend. "People just aren't used to you guys yet." Turquasar grunted with a nod, noting to be careful where he placed his rather incongruous bulk in human establishments from now on.

Connie and Steven then saw a game they liked, and ran up to it. It was some kind of car-racing game, with numerous amped-up vehicles driving onscreen. Steven set it on multiplayer, and he and Connie started the game, playing as a red and purple race car respectively. Amethyst walked off and found her own game to play, where she thrashed a joystick and rapidly tapped buttons as a spaceship, blasting away at innumerable asteroids with lasers. Turquasar had several unpleasant memories of lasers.

After looking around for a moment, Turquasar spotted another game a short way off from the children. Curious and wanting to try this 'gaming' for himself, he cautiously made his over. A pair of teenagers were absorbed in their games on either side, and Turquasar feebly attempted to squeeze between them. However, due to being larger than the typical elephant, this was doomed to fail.

"Hey, watch it!" The boy said in annoyance as thick, leathery hide obscured his view. Turquasar turned to look at the teen, whose face turned milky-white under the dinosaur's glare. Both kids promptly ran for their lives. Turquasar shrugged and looked to the game; he couldn't read human writing, but for the readers' sake, it was called _Snack Mon_ , and on the screen was a coconut with eyes, a mouth and a rasta cap with dreadlocks going down a maze, pursued by five jellyfish. Deciding what the heck, Turquasar gave it a try. He observed several other kids nearby, studying how they used the controls. It seemed fairly simple, but Turquasar's hands were each as large as the average child. Luckily, his game only had a single joystick. He observed players feeding the games coins, and he looked over to see Connie and Steven doing so to start a rematch on their race. Obviously, Turquasar had no coins on him, which Amethyst seemed to notice.

"Hey, Turq." She said as she walked up to him. "Need some help?" Turquasar nodded with a grunt, hoping to ask where he could find some change. Amethyst guessed what he meant by looking at the screen, which was flashing _Insert quarters to begin_. "No problem, buddy! I always just get some quarters from over there." The quartz pointed to another game, labeled _Money Broom_. Turquasar snorted his thanks and went up to the machine, peering into the glass. Inside were hundreds of quarters. Not hesitating, Turquasar smashed it with his paw, coins pouring out of the glass. His problem solved, Turquasar tentatively scooped the quarters into his hands and stepped back over to his game. He didn't know how much he needed, so he took several dozen.

"Well, that's one way of doing it." Amethyst shrugged. She then helped Turquasar with inserting quarters, and then wished him good luck as the game started. Only able to use one hand, Turquasar delicately gripped the controller lever with his dexterous pinkie. The game seemed pretty simple to follow, and soon enough Turquasar had racked up an impressive score. After a while, Steven, Connie, and Amethyst had come over to watch him, soon also joined by Sour Cream and the so-called Cool Kids, and several other gamers. Turquasar payed little attention, become absorbed in beating the game, until he started getting cheered on. Grunting in confusion, Turquasar noticed his surrounding fans. He rumbled to Steven, not sure what was going on.

"Turquasar!" Steven beamed in excitement. "You're about to beat the high score!" Turquasar looked at the screen, noticing that indeed, he was close to beating the game's all-time high score. He grunted to Steven, asking whether or not that was a good thing.

"It means you're awesome at this game!" Amethyst reassured, and with renewed confidence, Turquasar honked and adjusted his visor, resuming the game with renewed vigor to please his fans

* * *

"That was amazing, Turquasar!" Connie beamed as the four of them were leaving. Turquasar had beaten _Snack Mon_ to a standstill, setting a new high-score at least double the old one. It was the first time the young DinoGem had gotten praise, and the fact that he was a freakin' _dinosaur_ was actually overlooked. Sour Cream had even asked if Steven could bring the Iguanodon along to a party he was DJing for later that day.

"I've never been able to beat a game without cheating!" Amethyst acknowledged as the group headed back down the boardwalk. "Hey, Turquasar? How're you so good at that game?" The greenish Iguanodon shrugged and groaned, not sure himself. He was used to following orders, but like Amethyst, he much preferred to go and have fun by himself oftentimes. The two of them were both the wild ones of their respective teams, which was likely why they got along so well. But Turquasar also had a certain air of childishness inside of him, despite being tens of millions of years old, which brought him closer to Steven as well. The three of them had become good friends in the one week since the DinoGems' arrival.

"I have to get back home, you guys." Connie said, standing up on Turquasar's back. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye Connie!" Steven waved as Turquasar slid her down his tail, honking his farewell.

"See ya!" Amethyst called. With Steven and Amethyst riding on his back, Turquasar trotted back down the boardwalk toward the temple.

"I sure had fun today!" Steven commented as the group went on. "We should go back to Funland tomorrow! What do you think, Turquasar?" Turquasar brayed excitedly at the idea, having become very interested with the arcade games and other human things.

"Heh, yup." Amethyst agreed, stretching out on Turquasar's shoulders. "I guess you guys are, whatever you called it. 'beach summer fun buddies'(?), now?"

"Oh...yeah. I guess." Turquasar could sense that Steven became somewhat downhearted in response to this. Amethyst noticed as well. The two young Gems looked back at the boy, who wore a blank expression and didn't respond. The Iguanodon grunted curiously, but Amethyst seemed to partly understand what was going on. When they returned to the temple, Turquasar decided to ask. After Steven and Amethyst slid off his back onto the lawn, he began tracing the dirt with his thumb claw, scrawling a message. He grunted in inquiry upon finishing it, motioning for his companions to read it. The crudely-written thought went; _Why so upset, Stevin?_ Turquasar had to work on his spelling, but the message was clear nonetheless.

"Mm. I don't really want to talk about it." Steven said to the dinosaur, and in truth he didn't. He had had one "beach summer fun buddy" before, another Gem, by the name of Lapis Lazuli. She had more than proven herself to be good, but in the end she still resented the rest of the Crystal Gems, and in the end she had sacrificed herself to save Steven. Amethyst had been there both times as well, and now her relaxed demeanor was gone, and now she showed concern for Steven.

"Steven?" She said. "Maybe we should talk about it. The last time we didn't talk about all this junk, it almost didn't end well." Steven nodded, remembering an incident not long ago, after Peridot had arrived on earth with her escort, the frightening Gem Jasper. He at first refused to tell Connie what had gone down, and as a result nearly terminated their friendship. _That_ was something he very much regretted. Amethyst was thinking back to a more recent incident, when the Crystal Gems were still trying to capture Peridot, and Pearl kept tricking the others to get Garnet to fuse with her. It had taken an entire week for them to finally talk things out and make up. Both had learned from those instances that talking things out was definitely a better alternative to keeping feelings bottled up inside. Turquasar was still completely in the dark, but politely stayed quiet.

After contemplating his thoughts, Steven decided to tell the story. Turquasar laid down on the grass, Steven and Amethyst joining him and leaning against his side.

"Well, here goes…" Steven began. "It started when Pearl gave me this ancient Gem mirror…"

* * *

"...and then Lapis and Jasper fused into Malachite, and Lapis dragged them both into the ocean. We haven't seen any sign of her since I came to her in my dreams a long time ago."

Turquasar had his beak agape in shock. Steven had relayed the entire story of how he met Lapis Lazuli, and her tragic return to Homeworld and back to earth. He moaned in empathy for the small boy, and the Gem. He could never imagine the suffering she'd been through, desperate to return home, only to become a prisoner upon finally returning. And worse yet, struggling to maintain control over a toxic fusion with one side bent on revenge, trapped in the depths of the ocean, potentially forever. Steven was evidently very upset by the memories of all this, slumped against Turquasar's stomach as Amethyst put a comforting arm around him.

Turquasar was deeply saddened by his dear friends' sadness. If dinosaurs could cry, the waterworks would simply be flowing. The story brought up a few painful memories of his own past, as well. He removed his visor to briefly wipe away a single, fat tear rolling down his cheek. Steven appeared to be on the verge of tears himself, it seemed a nice day among friends had been ruined, when Turquasar was struck with an idea. The Iguanodon DinoGem honked as he stood to his feet, grinning. He grunted to Steven and Amethyst, turning his head in the direction of the ocean.

"Uh, come again?" Amethyst asked, unclear. Turquasar snorted, and scrawled something in the sand again, this time a teardrop shape; Lapis Lazuli's gem. Steven and Amethyst stared at the drawing, realization dawning on them. Turquasar pointed to the gem drawing, then toward the sea. He then ran down the beach to the water's edge, looking back to them and roaring. The answer hit the quartz and half-Gem like a ton of bricks: Turquasar was volunteering to swim out to see and bring Lapis back. Steven and Amethyst looked at one another, both thinking the same thing. _Is that a good idea?_ Lapis and Jasper were still fused, as far as they knew, and, as Garnet had put it, they were _really_ bad for each other.

But Turquasar's confident roar signalled that it was too late to sway him. Before they could stop him, the Iguanodon shape-shifted his visor into a pair of giant swim goggles and charged into the ocean. Like a gigantic sea serpent he swam rapidly through the water until he was nearly gone from sight.

"Amethyst! What if something happens to him?" Steven worried, not wanting to lose another friend. Amethyst, though she knew there was little possibility of this ending well, knew she should at least reassure Steven.

"I don't know, Steven. I guess all we can do is sit here and wait." Though Steven was anxious, he knew that yes, this was the most logical thing to do. "Besides, if we told Pearl she'd completely freak out."

* * *

Turquasar had swum about a mile out to sea, and determined this a good spot to begin his search. He wanted to do this for Steven. Sucking in a huge breath of air, Turquasar dove under the surface, swimming straight down into the depths. What he saw made him freeze.

Below and all around him were huge, vibrant droves of fish. Fish and sea creatures of all sizes and shapes swam past him, adding to the breathtaking scenery. As Turquasar swam deeper, several gigantic, blue and pink fish swam by, small crystal shards sparkling on their scales. Below him was a vast kelp forest, out of which swam a plethora of cephalopods, sea lions, small sharks and hundreds of other creatures of the sea. The sight was truly breathtaking.

But Turquasar was on a mission. Leaving the wonder and glory of the shallow sea behind, the Iguanodon swum further out, slowly going deeper as he went. Due to his massive lungs and partial Gem status, he could hold his breath for a very long time. He still had to take periodic breaths back at the surface, however. He wasn't aware of how much time had passed, but he assumed he was awfully far from Beach City by now. When he surfaced, he couldn't detect a trace of its scent, only the salt air. Turquasar focused on what was ahead, however; a rocky ridge jutting out of the sea floor. The Iguanodon paddled with his feet and tail, rising over the ridge smoothly. However, as he came over the rock, he caught a glimpse of bright color below. He stopped over the ridge and looked down. _There!_ A large figure of swirling green and white was sitting on the bottom just ahead! He'd found them.

Deep beneath the waves, beside the heat of a hydrothermal vent, the fusion known as Malachite sat still. Inside, however, was a horrific inner turmoil. The consciousness of Lapis Lazuli was gripped in a constant struggle to remain the dominant personality, trying to use the weight of the entire world's ocean to keep herself and Jasper held down. She was beginning to falter every so often, however.

All of a sudden, Malachite opened her four eyes and thrashed against the water chains shackling her to the ocean floor, before stopping and becoming still once again. Malachite was increasingly unstable, and was slowly developing her own personality. Who knows how long until she got loose.

A shadow passed over the enormous quadrupedal Gem, and Malachite opened her reptilian eyes again. She saw something moving toward her, and as the object got closer, it was revealed to be some kind of large organic creature, that didn't look at all adapted for sea life. Turquasar knew this had to be the unstable Malachite, and paused to contemplate a course of action. He knew he had no chance against the towering fusion alone, and he was only here for Lapis and definitely _not_ Jasper. He thought that if he could succeed in freeing her, Malachite would be distracted long enough for Turquasar to rush in and break her apart. He understood from Steven's story that Lapis Lazuli was an incredibly powerful Gem, but maybe he could convince her that he was a friend.

Snorting underwater, Turquasar beat his tail like a rudder and paddled toward Malachite, aiming for her liquid shackles. Malachite watched the Iguanodon's approach, her personalities distracted from fighting one another for the moment. But as Turquasar swam around her, she suddenly grimaced and lunged at the dinosaur with her free arm. Turquasar hastily dodged, only to be nearly snapped up by another hand that functioned as a foot. Malachite lunged again, and Turquasar hurriedly swam just far enough out of her reach. The fusion snarled with her sharp teeth, glaring at the dinosaur. Turquasar was hesitant, but he was determined to save the innocent Gem trapped in the toxic fusion.

Rapidly darting around her, Turquasar swam toward Malachite's legs, summoning his armored gauntlets. The huge fusion made a grab at him, but the Iguanodon darted away with surprising agility. Before she could strike again, Turquasar pushed off the seafloor and grappled the water chains, pulling on them with all his might. Malachite thrashed wildly, one side trying desperately to stay in control in spite of the disturbance. Turquasar snarled and darted to the other side, gripped the chains in his hands and bit down with his beak, but still it did nothing. Quickly retreating once more, he saw the tear-shaped Gem on Malachite's back, and was suddenly struck with an idea.

Turquasar beat his tail, swimming in a tight circle again and again to build up speed. Then he rocketed straight towards the fusion, his fists aimed for Lapis' Gem. He hit her like a great white shark would a seal, his right gauntlet slamming into the gem, not hard enough to crack it or cause any physical harm, but more than enough to stun both Gems as Malachite recoiled in shock. Seizing his chance, Turquasar dove toward the water chains, this time easily biting through them and shattering them with his claws, making them turn back to simple water. Malachite seemed extremely distressed, but Turquasar wasn't stopping. He gripped the chains securing Malachite's torso and pushed off her back with his powerful legs, ripping the last of her bonds free. He was ready to make his charge and separate the fusion, when Malachite lunged out of her bonds, the disrupted current pulling Turquasar away.

"Free…" Malachite said underwater, in what sounded like two deep, distorted voices. "I'm free…" The green fusion then looked at Turquasar, a sinister, reptilian grin on her face. _Oh no…_ The DinoGem dreaded.

Then in an instant, Malachite darted ahead, moving at incredible speed straight toward...the beach. Turquasar roared, accidentally releasing bubbles from his mouth. What had he done?! He frantically swam after her, pumping his legs and tail until they burned. He was soon able to pass Malachite on account of his smaller size and greater streamlining, but only by a little. He had to get there first and warn the others.

* * *

Steven and Amethyst sat anxiously on the beach. Turquasar hadn't been gone very long, but neither of them had a good feeling about this. That was when they heard something surface out on the water.

Turquasar burst into the air and roared out a panic, frantically swimming back and honking in fear. Steven and Amethyst both knew that something was very wrong. Hearing the furious calls, Garnet and Pearl came running out of the house to see, while Azuron and Onyxcor raced out from under it in a flurry. Topazorn turned from atop the statue's arm, as the ocean began to bubble, before a huge wall of water and spray erupted, throwing Turquasar into the air and crashing onto the beach. Every Gem present looked on in horror as Malachite rose from the water.

"I can't wait to tear you Gems _apart!"_ Came her cold, monstrous voice.

* * *

 **And so ends the intense cliffhanger! Next time, the DinoGems and the Crystal Gems shall fight the unstable fusion Malachite, and even _more_ fusing goes down! Expect the next chapter in the next week or so, and I dearly hope you all enjoy "In Too Deep"! **

**Also, Turquasar is arcade lord.**


	7. Chapter 7: Fusionfall

**When we last left the Crystal Gems and the DinoGems, Turquasar had unwittingly released Malachite, the highly unstable fusion between Lapis Lazuli and Jasper. Now that Malachite has returned, can the Crystal Gems survive her wrath? And how can the DinoGems face this powerful enemy?**

 **Read on to find out!**

* * *

Topazorn stared in horror at the kaiju of a Gem before them. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Steven, Onyxcor, and Azuron were all frozen in shock, while Turquasar looked up in immediate regret for how much of an idiot he'd been. This was all his fault. He had released Malachite, all because of a moment of well-meaning short-sightedness. Now he'd brought this threat to all his friends.

Cackling wickedly, Malachite took a huge step forward onto the beach, reaching out an arm as the ocean began to stir. Turquasar roared a terrified cry for the others to run as he scrambled away, moments from being stepped on. Malachite set her terrifying gaze on the Crystal Gems, seeming not to care about the dinosaurs. The Gems watched helplessly as the ocean contorted, and a stream of water rose into the form of a gigantic hand, looming over the temple.

Topazorn shook his head, and roared to the other Gems. Azuron and Onyxcor grunted and summoned their jaw mask and horn swords, and Turquasar nervously summoned his gauntlets and rose onto his hind legs. Topazorn snorted and leaped from the temple, his thagomizer turning into his flail. The DinoGems stood their ground in front of the monstrous fusion, roaring monstrously at her.

While Malachite took notice of the DinoGems, Garnet snapped back to reality.

"Amethyst! Get Steven out of here!" She shouted. At once, Amethyst grabbed Steven and tossed him like a football back toward the house, where he was hastily caught by Garnet. "Steven, stay inside the temple!" She told him.

"But Garnet-"

" _Get inside!"_ Steven decided not to argue and hurried into the house, watching nervously from the window. All of a sudden, the bathroom door swung open and Peridot came running out, terrified.

"What's going on?!" She screamed, hiding behind the wall.

"Giant fusion!" Was Steven's equally scared response. Peridot had no idea what he was talking about, but then there was a huge crash followed by a distressed bellow, and Onyxcor came crashing through the wall, making both Peridot and Steven fall over in shock. The Tyrannosaurus rex merely shook his head and grunted before hurriedly getting back up and charging out the hole he'd made.

The DinoGems tried to attack Malachite, but the giant fusion was easily too much for them. Topazorn charged and swung his flail at Malachite, wrapping it around her arm. In retaliation the teal-patterned fusion grabbed the chain and swung the Stegosaurus into the cliff. Topazorn growled in annoyance at this happening twice in the same day. Onyxcor roared in fury, charging the giant enemy and shooting a torrent of red fire from his jaws. The blaze surrounded Malachite, but she was hardly shaken and merely extinguished it using her water.

Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst knew what they had to do; they all looked at one another and nodded. There was no time to perform the entire dance, but in a time of crisis Gems could fuse with relative ease. Amethyst and Pearl concentrated, their gems beginning to glow. They raised their arms and twirled towards Garnet in the center, who extended her arms and clasped hands with Pearl and Amethyst, and then their bodies transformed into bright light, their forms melding into one another and forming into an enormous, towering Gem. The DinoGems looked on in bewilderment and Malachite snarled coldly as the titanic, six-armed fusion known as Alexandrite appeared.

" _You think fusing will save you?"_ Malachite sneered tauntingly. " _You clods!"_ Malachite then charged and grappled with Alexandrite, the force of the two enormous fusions colliding rattling the cliff. The DinoGems hurriedly fled to avoid being crushed, and Topazorn ordered to attack Malachite's legs, and swung his flail into the four-legged fusion, followed by Onyxcor who roared out a blaze of flame around her feet. Malachite growled, stomping her feet to try and crush the dinosaurs, but they were too quick for her. While Malachite was distracted, Alexandrite pulled back her three right fists a triple-punched the other fusion in the cheek.

Recoiling, Malachite growled and clenched her fists angrily before lunging at her opponent, tackling her into the cliff and onto the ground. Alexandrite gritted her multiple teeth and grappled Malachite with four arms while pushing herself up with the other pair. The six-armed Gem then flung Malachite off her and regained her stance, growling. Malachite hit the ground rolling, stirring up a cloud of sand in her wake. She snarling monstrously, pounding her fists on the sand, a torpedo of water rising out of the ocean.

From the relative safety of the house, Steven saw the weaponized water fly straight toward Alexandrite.

"Garnet! Pearl! Amethyst!" He screamed desperately. "Look out!" Distracted by Steven, Alexandrite didn't notice Malachite's attack from behind until it was too late.

"Oof!" Alexandrite was slammed into the cliff by Malachite's hydrokinesis, the tentacle of water wrapping around her torso like an enormous snake, binding her arms to her sides. Laughing demonically, Malachite stomped toward her hapless rival, hers to finish off at her convenience. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl struggled to escape her grip, but even all together as one they weren't strong enough to break free. Steven and Peridot watched in horror as Malachite prepared to dispatch the Crystal Gems, when a resounding roar caught everyone's attention, and Malachite turned to see the DinoGems charging her all at once, then leaping into the air and bearing down on her.

" _What is this?!"_ Malachite roared as several tons of prehistoric fury bombarded her, making her step back from the still-trapped Alexandrite. The DinoGems attacked Malachite all over, kicking, biting and clawing at her body in addition to their weapons. Malachite repeatedly swiped at them, but each time they leapt out of reach and resumed their assault, trying to buy the others time. Malachite was rapidly losing control, in fact her face distorted for but a second. Where did these organic creatures get the nerve to attack her? " _Enough!"_ Malachite growled, before a huge torrent of water washed over her, carrying the DinoGems with it and onto the beach where they landed hard against the ground.

With the distraction gone, Malachite turned her attention back to Alexandrite, who was still struggling to escape. Malachite snickered wickedly, and began tightening the water's grip, squeezing Alexandrite harder and harder like a gigantic python.

" _You thought you could beat me?"_ The toxic fusion jeered. " _There's nothing that can save you now. You're as good as shattered!"_ Steven, Peridot and the DinoGems watched in horror as Alexandrite's form began to contort, struggling to stay fused, but Malachite only laughed sadistically and tightened her grip even further. Knowing that she couldn't get free, Alexandrite looked at Steven.

" _Steven...Run!"_ Pearl's, Garnet's and Amethyst's voices cried, before Alexandrite destabilized and vanished, the three Crystal Gems landing hard on the sand.

"Oh no!" Steven cried. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst picked themselves off the ground weakly, only to be met with Malachite's terrifying laughter.

" _Pathetic."_ She sneered, sounding very much like Jasper. " _Give up, Crystal Gems. You're weak! You're pointless stand only bought you time! You're worthless."_ Malachite then raised another giant hand of water, looming over the Gems with a sadistic grin. " _Any last words?"_ In silence, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst glared defiantly at Malachite, each summoning their weapons. They would fight to the bitter end. Malachite wordlessly glared, raising a second water fist over her. The Crystal Gems were helpless, the DinoGems were incapacitated, and Steven and Peridot were frozen in terror. But Steven wasn't just going to stand by while his family was killed.

With a yell, Steven leaped from the hole in the wall and ran across the beach, straight towards Malachite.

"Steven!" Peridot screeched. The DinoGems looked up and roared for Steven to stop, but he wasn't listening. Malachite's water arms came down like torpedoes. The Crystal Gems stood unflinching, thinking Steven to have already run away, when he stopped right in front of them.

"Steven?!" They cried. In an instant, Steven's gemstone glowed a shocking pink, and a massive version of Rose Quartz's shield appeared overhead, deflecting the water and blinding Malachite. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Topazorn, Azuron, Onyxcor, Turquasar and Peridot stared in shocked silence, and even Malachite froze in awe at the sight before her.

The enormous shield disappeared in a flash of brightness, and Steven looked directly at Malachite.

"Lapis!" He called. "Don't do this! I know you're in there! We're beach summer fun buddies, remember?" Malachite was still, but for a moment, her narrowed, catlike eyes became rounder, her gaze softer.

"...Steven?" Came Lapis Lazuli's soft voice. A glimmer of hope crossed Steven's expression, but then Malachite recoiled, her expression reverting to anger and malice. It seemed the Lapis had lost control of the fusion. It was just what Garnet feared: Malachite had developed her own personality.

Malachite stomped toward the Crystal Gems menacingly, a furious snarl on her lips. Struggling to stand up, Topazorn saw they were in dire need of help. He roared to the other DinoGems as they got up, and turned to Onyxcor, a knowing look in his eyes. The Tyrannosaurus looked unsure, but he quickly snorted with a nod, knowing they had no other choice to defeat this enemy.

Malachite raised another tower of water, forming it into a sword-like tip.

"Steven! Get behind us!" Pearl commanded as the Gems stood protectively around the boy. The Crystal Gems stared up in horror, as Malachite prepared to finish them, when an enormous flash of light caught everyone's attention, accompanied by a thunderous roar.

They turned to see Azuron and Turquasar standing off to the side, as a huge mass of white light twisted and contorted into a gigantic dinosaurian shape. Steven's eyes widened in wonder: _Topazorn and Onyxcor had fused._

The bright light dissipated, and left standing on the sand was a huge dinosaur fusion. The fusion had the body style of a T-rex with the added bulk of a Stegosaurus, with a long tail and three rows of plates running down his back, giving him a very Godzilla-like appearance. The tail was tipped with four sword-like spikes, the jaws were lined with double rows of teeth, his arms were huge and muscular, and Topazorn and Onyxcor's gem shards had migrated onto the elbows. The dino-fusion was reddish-gold all over with an orange tint, and his four eyes were covered by a red visor.

A thunderous roar broke from the dino-fusion's throat, challenging Malachite. The toxic fusion snarled, turning to face her new rival. Even fused, Onyxcor and Topazorn were only about half Malachite's height. The dino-fusion roared into the sky, spreading his arms as his elbow gems began to glow. A pair of long, white chains appeared from his shards, twisting around his arms. One ended in a spiked flail, the other in a metal T-rex skull. The dino-fusion gripped his chains in his claws, and whirled them around rapidly in a threatening display. The dino-fusion roared and charged Malachite, his chain weapons trailing behind him. Malachite lunged and smashed the ground, just missing the dino-fusion, who dodged impossibly quick and whipped his flail into Malachite's head.

Malachite growled and lashed out again at the dino-fusion, only to again be met with a hard hit to her facial region. The dino-fusion ran circles around Malachite, evading her attacks before countering with his own. When Malachite swung at him, he threw his metal jaws at her and gripped her arm, and was pulled into the air where he again landed a blow to her cranium. The dino-fusion vaulted off Malachite's shoulder and swung his jaw-flail into the cliff, swinging on it like a vine to the other side of his opponent.

Her attention focused on the dino-fusion, Malachite was unaware of the Crystal Gems making a run for the temple. Azuron and Turquasar were flanking them, as their two other teammates were occupied at the moment. However, after being hit in the face yet again, Malachite glimpsed them escaping.

" _Get back here!"_ She growled, raising a stream of water from the ocean and throwing it at the Gems. Turquasar roared for the others to run, and turned to face the onrushing attack.

"Turquasar!" Steven called futilely from Garnet's hold. Turquasar pounded his fists and reared up, raising his arms back as his thumb spikes suddenly shot out from his gauntlets on two long whips, which he swung forwards at Malachite's attack, slicing through the water and breaking Malachite's hold on it. Malachite snarled and Turquasar roared, lashing his spike-ended whips. Malachite glared and stomped toward him, when she was halted by the dino-fusion ensnaring her rear legs and pulling back on the chains, strong enough to stop her advance. While she was distracted, Azuron ran up beside Turquasar and grunted urgently, saying " _Throw me!"_

Turquasar hesitated briefly, before nodding and retracting his whips. The Iguanodon gripped Azuron by the tail and frill, lifting his teammate off the ground and swinging him in a wide circle. After gaining enough centripetal force(i.e. becoming a green and blue blur), Turquasar released his grip, throwing Azuron with swords aimed straight for Malachite's torso. Malachite turned at the sound of a screaming roar, not quick enough to avoid ten tons worth of razor-sharp, quill-covered dinosaur slamming into her chest at terminal velocity.

The impact knocked Malachite flat on her back, and taking the opening, the DinoGems charged.

Turquasar leaped into the air and pounded his gauntlets, Azuron teleported all over the huge fusion as he slashed his horn-swords, and the dino-fusion relentlessly battered her with his flails and bombarded her with his golden fire breath. Malachite suddenly lashed out with her hand-feet, grabbing the DinoGems and tossing them off her body. The DinoGems regrouped in front of the temple, staring down the gradually destabilizing Malachite. The teal fusion snarled animalistically at the dinosaurs, before the gem on her back glowed. Suddenly, four gigantic wings made of water sprouted from Lapis' gem, and both the Dino and Crystal Gems stared in awe.

Malachite flapped her four sparkling wings, taking off from the beach and soaring into their air. Thinking quickly, the dino-fusion roared to the others, before charging at Malachite and throwing his flails into the air, grappling her feet and pulling her back with all his might. Turquasar did the same, swinging his spiked whips and lashing them around one of the airborne fusion's legs, struggling to pull her down. Malachite retaliated, beating all four of her huge, quadruple wings harder, but somehow the dinosaurs were strong enough to hold their grip on her.

The dino-fusion roared an order to Azuron, and without hesitating the Triceratops turned tail and galloped back toward the temple, passing Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven as he ran toward the cliff, teleporting every few moments to get there faster. Azuron appeared on the grassy hill, charging rapidly upward toward the lighthouse.

"This is pure gold!" Ronaldo Fryman gushed from outside the lighthouse, video camera in hand as he filmed the DinoGems' battle with Malachite. Suddenly a roar sounded from behind him, before Azuron teleported to the top of the cliff and leapt over the annoying teenager, landing on the very edge and vaulting into the air, shooting toward the fusion and landing swords-first on her back, stabbing into her physical form.

" _Eeuuurrgghhh!"_ Malachite growled, her wings turning to limp water as she fell to earth. Turquasar and the dino-fusion leaped out of the way just before the huge Gem collided with the ground, rattling the temple itself.

When the dust cleared, Malachite pushed herself off the ground with an aching groan. She turned to the sound of a bellowing roar, as the DinoGems regrouped before her. The dino-fusion snarled and flexed his chains, Turquasar and Azuron standing beside him, snarling at their enemy. All of them were tired and beaten up from the fight, but there was no way they were giving in now. Malachite rose up to her full, towering height, staring down the DinoGems intensely. The air was tense with whoever would make the next move.

With a roar, Malachite charged, her feet shaking the ground as a huge plume of water rose up behind her. The dino-fusion roared an order, before stepping forth and shooting out his spiked flail, breaking Malachite's hold on the water, only for her to raise several more into writhing tentacles.

Turquasar and Azuron charged from both sides, slicing through water tentacles whenever they were attacked. Malachite constantly took more water, forming more tentacles, but no matter how much she lashed out at them, the DinoGems countered her every move. Turquasar punched water tendrils into sprinkles and sliced through with his whips, while Azuron leapt and bounded around Malachite, slashing and twirling his blades and effortlessly cutting down Malachite's attacks. The dino-fusion swung his flails left and right, deflecting the tendrils with the mace and breaking them off with the jaws.

Malachite snarled, rapidly growing furious at how easily the dinosaurs kept her on her toes. She clenched her fists in rage before throwing a surge of water on the beach, overtaking the DinoGems and leaving them laying on the beach again. The dino-fusion hurriedly lurched up, pounding the ground with his fist and growling, the others behind him. The dino-fusion ran towards Malachite, gnashing his teeth monstrously before coming to a halt halfway between her and the others. Eyes not moving from the toxic fusion, he whirled his flails before swinging them...behind him where Turquasar grabbed onto the mace and the jaws clamped onto Azuron's horn, and in a show of incredible strength and power, the dino-fusion yanked the chains forward, whipping the Iguanodon and Triceratops straight towards Malachite.

Malachite hurriedly summoned a wall of water in front of her, but the dinosaurs splashed through and hit her square in the chest, nearly knocking her back. Then the dino-fusion came running, throwing his flails forward so they embedded into the ground, and then he pulled with all his might, slinging himself forward like a projectile.

Azuron and Turquasar jumped off at the last second, and Malachite felt the wind knocked out of her when the dino-fusion rammed into her, pushing the huge fusion back considerably. Malachite growled and knocked the dino-fusion off of her in retaliation, but the dino-fusion swung his flails into the cliff, anchoring himself to the rock face. Seeing this, Malachite slammed her fist into the cliff, just missing him. The dino-fusion leaped and swung out of reach every time Malachite made a lunge for him, rapidly climbing up the cliff face using his flails and claws to grip the rock.

The dino-fusion snarled at Malachite, before charging up the cliff, slinging his jaw flail ahead where it gripped the top of the cliff, and then he swung himself into the air, diving toward Malachite below. Malachite swung numerous tendrils of water at the fused dinosaurs, but the dino-fusion whipped his flails, deflecting all of her attacks. The dino-fusion swung the jaw flail when Malachite was right below him, the Tyrannosaurus skull snapping tightly onto a lock of Malachite's hair. With a huge, echoing roar, the dino-fusion swung from the fusion's unruly mane in wide circle, flying back at her and reeling back his mace, before slamming it right into the gemstone on Malachite's nose with the sound of a thunderbolt.

Malachite screeched in pain, before her body contorted into light and disappeared, a pair of much smaller shapes falling to the ground.

Jasper was the first to regain awareness, a painful ache in her head. As the orange quartz weakly pushed herself off the ground, she saw Lapis Lazuli struggling up beside her. Jasper gritted her teeth, when the dino-fusion suddenly landed on his feet before them, getting the attention of the two Gems. The dino-fusion snarled, raising his mace to finish them both.

"Wait!" Steven gasped, breaking free from Garnet's grip and running towards the scene.

"Steven!" Pearl and Garnet screamed. Steven jumped in front of the dino-fusion just as the spiked flail came down, summoning his shield at the last moment and deflecting the blow. Everyone present was frozen in silence as the rose-colored shield spiraled and dissipated. In a flash, the dino-fusion unfused and Topazorn and Onyxcor tumbled to the ground.

Onyxcor scrambled onto his feet and roared scornfully at the boy, gnashing his teeth in anger. But Topazorn grunted at the rex to stand down, and, grumbling, he did so. Topazorn growled deeply, demanding to know what Steven thought he was doing. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Azuron and Turquasar arrived at the scene, all looking toward Steven.

Lapis Lazuli had little idea what was happening. One moment, she been nearly lost as Malachite took over. The next, she and Jasper had been defused, and now they were being faced down by the Crystal Gems, the ones who had left her trapped in that horrible mirror for millennia, and now four gigantic, primeval behemoths she'd never seen before. Then there was Steven, who'd just saved her _and_ Jasper from being poofed and undoubtedly shattered. Lapis hadn't the slightest idea of why he'd saved _Jasper_ as well, the brute of a Gem who'd kept him prisoner and whacked him in the head. In fact she'd fused with her and dragged them both into the ocean to protect Steven from the warrior Gem. _What was going on?_

"Steven?" The blue Gem said meekly, struggling to get up.

"Lapis!" Steven called when he heard her voice. Out of nowhere, Lapis felt herself suddenly tackled in a tight hug from Steven, at first making her blush a bright yellow color. Lapis was startled by a low moan from beside them, and turned to see Turquasar sauntering up. She reacted appropriately, grabbing Steven and pulling him away from the huge creature.

"Lapis, it's okay!" Steven said, wriggling out of her grasp. "He's a friend."

"What?" Lapis then heard another grunt, and the rest of the DinoGems approached. Topazorn made a quick observation of Lapis and Jasper, and grunted back to Garnet, clearly asking _"_ _Who are these Gems?"_

Garnet stepped forward, keeping her gauntlets on in case anything else happened. Lapis and Jasper displayed noticeable contempt upon seeing her. "Lapis Lazuli, and Jasper." Garnet said. "They're Homeworld-aligned Gems who've both been on earth before. We've never been on the best terms." The DinoGems growled hatefully upon learning these Gems were in allegiance to the Homeworld, Turquasar especially, oddly enough.

"Lapis is my friend, you guys." Steven announced, stopping the DinoGem's snarling as they turned their attention to him. "We met a long time ago, after she was stuck in a mirror for...well a long time, I guess." Lapis glared harshly at Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst at this memory, and Turquasar began to feel guilty, having heard this story before. Before Steven explained any more, the Iguanodon stepped forward and grunted, hanging his head as he explained how this whole mess had started. Upon the revelation that Turquasar had gone and freed Malachite, the other DinoGems were furious; Azuron snorted that what Turquasar had done was extremely brash and foolish, and Onyxcor harshly berated the younger DinoGems for his idiocy. Topazorn bellowed, silencing his compatriots, before rumbling to Turquasar that they would discuss this later. Turquasar nodded in shame.

While all this was going on, Jasper was angrily confused. _What in Yellow Diamond is going on?!_ She thought crossly. What in Homeworld _were_ these creatures? And what affinity did they have with Rose Quartz? She tried to get to her feet, only to grunt in pain at the ache emanating from her gem, drawing the other's attention to her.

Against everyone's wishes, Steven was the first to approach Jasper. Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis and the DinoGems first moved to stop him, but Garnet gestured for them to stay back. The stable fusion had an idea as to what would go down.

Jasper looked up as the young boy warily approached her. Her gem was cracked, and now that she was weakened her adversaries had the perfect opportunity to eliminate her. _Ah, well._ She thought, almost passively. _I've lived long enough._

Steven seemed confident enough, and Jasper wasn't leaving her crouching position. Still Onyxcor felt he should make an approach, lest the large quartz try anything. Jasper looked up at shaking footsteps, seeing the crimson Tyrannosaurus rex stride up beside Steven, a silent growl on his lips as he bared his massive teeth in what was clearly a threat. Jasper was hardly fazed.

"Just get it over with." She growled, slumping against the sand. Steven wasn't sure what she meant, but Onyxcor looked toward Topazorn, whose returned gaze was a definite _"_ _Not yet."_

"Get what over with?" Steven asked softly, prompting Jasper to looked up at him, scowling.

"Just do it, Rose!" She growled, prompting the same from the theropod. "You've won. You've got me at your mercy. Just shatter me already!" Onyxcor's expression betrayed his readiness at the idea, but Steven's response was one of shock.

"Jasper," The Gem child said softly, speaking the orange Gem's name. "You need to understand: I'm not my mom! I'm Steven. I'm just a kid who's half-human, and half-Gem. My mom sorta became half of me, when I was born, and I inherited her gem." As Steven said this, he lifted his star shirt to reveal the pink gem on his stomach. Jasper's eyes widened in confusion, and even the DinoGems looked on in awe as Steven shared the story of his own origin; they hadn't heard of such a thing ever before. Steven then noticed the small crack in Jasper's gem, and the minor disturbance in her physical form only confirmed that she needed help.

"Uh, hold still, please?" Steven asked, before licking his palm and leaving a trail of his healing spit. Steven reached out his saliva-laden hand, the strange gesture making Jasper reel back in uncertainty, but an audible snap of Onyxcor's monstrous jaws made her sit still. All eyes were on him as Steven reached forward and delicately pressed his palm over Jasper's gem, a brief aura of light emanating from it. When Steven pulled his hand way, Jasper felt her gem; the crack was gone, and her gem healed! Jasper looked at Steven, unable to form any words. Why? She was defeated, at her enemies' convenience to dispose of, and yet the boy chose to heal her. Jasper simply couldn't grip the reality of what was going on. But Steven only smiled a kind smile.

"Now," Garnet said as the earth Gems approached the two from Homeworld. "Without your ship, and no way of contacting Homeworld, you're all stuck here." Jasper grumbled as she stood up, while Lapis looked down at the ground, indifferent.

"And there's no way we're going to just let you walk away, not after all _that._ " Pearl added, referring to the havoc caused by Malachite.

"So, what?" Lapis asked sternly, barely looking up. "Are we prisoners? Again?" Pearl was about to answer, when Garnet stepped in.

"No. You're not our prisoners." She said. "But we're still going to keep an eye on you both. Just like we've been doing with Peridot."

"Peridot?" Lapis said, clearly not happy. "You have Peridot here, too?" Jasper huffed, seeming not to care for the green Gem.

"Yup." Added Amethyst. "So I guess you two'll have to join her in exile." Neither Gem was happy about this reality, but, ironically, Jasper was the first to accept.

"Fine." She grunted, glaring at the fusion. Garnet had no response, other than a blank nod, before leading the others back to the temple, the DinoGems glaring at Lapis and Jasper quite intimidatingly. It was unspoken, but it was clear Garnet wanted the dinosaurs to keep an eye on them.

Escorted by the DinoGems, Lapis and Jasper followed the Crystal Gems back to the temple, with Steven eagerly walking alongside Lapis and taking her hand. This small gesture caused the ocean Gem to give the slightest smile. However, she took a moment to look over at Jasper, who refused to look at the...things that were leading them on. Jasper stole a brief glance at Lapis, who glared hatefully at her.

* * *

Evening had arrived on the beach, and as twilight began to set in, serenity had returned to the temple. After the battle with Malachite had been won, Connie and Steven's dad, Greg, had been quick to arrive on the scene. Steven and the Crystal Gems, thankfully, had been able to explain everything, including why the DinoGems were guarding a pair of somewhat familiar Gems, one of which had stolen the entire ocean previously.

As for Lapis Lazuli and Jasper, Topazorn had tasked Azuron and Onyxcor respectively with keeping them under surveillance, which both dinosaurs were ready to do. Turquasar, however, had been forbidden from leaving the immediate area around the temple for next few days, due to his short-sighted actions that nearly resulted in disaster. The bespectacled Iguanodon graciously accepted his punishment, and was lying under the beach house by himself.

Topazorn was outside the temple, watching the setting sun and reflecting over the hectic day that had gone by. It had been the first time in a very long while that any of the DinoGems had fused, mainly because they could easily defeat most rivals on their own, the amplified strength and power of a fusion hardly ever required. Topazorn had never before seen a fusion of such reckless hate and rage that was Malachite, and hoped he never would again.

The Stegosaurus turned to the sound of footsteps approaching, and saw Steven walking up to him. Topazorn groaned in acknowledgement as the young boy sat down beside him, leaning against his leathery hide. Topazorn could tell the quartz child had much on his mind.

"Today was pretty eventful, I guess." Steven said eventually. Topazorn rumbled his agreement. "I guess I should tell you about Jasper, and Lapis." Topazorn grunted, before dragging his snout through the sand, writing another message. _Turquasar told me of the Lapis Lazuli's story. What of the Jasper?_

"Well, to make a long story short, Jasper and Peridot came to earth a while back and brought Lapis with them, and they took all four of us prisoner." Topazorn listened intently as Steven recollected. He had known about Peridot since arriving, but had long since deemed her not a threat. "Then I found out that Garnet was a fusion all the time, and she beat Jasper and sent the ship crashing back to earth. We all escaped, but then Lapis fused with Jasper and dragged them both into the ocean." Topazorn's eyes were wide with intrigue; he had heard of Gems that powerful, but had never thought of them to still exist. He then wiped away his first message, scrawling a new one. _That does sound difficult to go through._ It read.

"Uh-huh." Steven affirmed. A long silence followed. Then, Topazorn thought of something. Quickly erasing the old and writing a new message, he asked; _Steven, would you like to know a secret about me?_

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Steven replied, stars forming in his eyes in excitement. "What is it? What is it?" Topazorn rumbled a laugh, before giving his answer, not bothering to use the sand.

 _ **I can see into the minds of other beings.**_

Steven froze. He had _heard_ that. It had come from inside his mind, the voice deep and wise.

Steven looked in disbelief. Topazorn was grinning at him, and Steven could hear his rich, baritone chuckle inside his head. "Oh. My. Gosh." Steven gushed. "Topazorn! You're _psychic?!"_

 _ **I had always referred to it as thought transference, but yes, Steven, I am indeed 'psychic'.**_ Steven was practically shaking with wonder.

"That's insane!" He gasped. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

 _ **Initially I had planned to wait.**_ Topazorn thought to him. _**But after the events of today, I thought you could use some good news.**_ In response to this, Steven got up and hugged Topazorn tightly around the neck, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Topazorn. I can tell everyone else, right?" Topazorn chuckled deeply again, but confirmed _**Of course.**_ Beaming, Steven ran off to tell the Gems, leaving Topazorn to himself. The Stegosaur Gem glanced back at the beach house, where Turquasar wallowed under the porch. _**Hmm.**_ The DinoGem leader mulled. _**Perhaps I was too hard on him…**_

* * *

After night had fallen, the DinoGems settled down by the temple. With the exception of Turquasar, none of them had plans to sleep, focused on keeping watch over Jasper. So far the quartz had made no moves to escape, but the DinoGems weren't taking any chances.

With the three older DinoGems watching from afar(knowing they could instantly be on the scene should trouble arise regardless), Jasper sat angrily by the temple. Nothing was making sense. Why had they chosen to spare her? There was no way she'd ever obey them, a bunch of lousy traitors. But she didn't have much of a choice, if the snarling half-Gem beasts these 'Crystal Gems' had on their side was any indication. Not to mention she had no ways of contacting Homeworld from this worthless rock.

While Jasper was stewing in her own frustration, she heard the sound of someone approaching. The soldier Gem stood up to see Lapis, slowly walking toward her with a serious expression. Jasper growled behind her teeth.

"What do you want, brat?" She grunted.

"I don't want anything." Came the blue Gem's reply. "I just want to make sure you know that we're both still stuck on this 'miserable planet', whether we like it or not. I'd rather leave this place behind and never see you again, but there's no way they'll let either us leave." She gestured to the DinoGems, whose eyes shined creepily in the dark from the hill. "But that's not why you should be worried; I want to make it clear, that if you step out of line, if you do _anything_ to try and hurt Steven, or even make me _think_ you'd try something, I will personally shatter you into dust _myself._ " Lapis' sinister words were enough to make the hardened soldier visibly recoil, her eyes uncharacteristically shocked. "Do I make myself clear?" Wordlessly, Jasper nodded, truly frightened at the the smaller Gem's scarily realistic threat. Lazuli then walked away, the horned Gem beast soon getting up and following at a distance.

Jasper breathed out nervously, sitting back down and looking up at the starry sky, spotting Homeworld's galaxy among the the twinkling lights. _I guess we really are stuck._ She solemnly thought.

* * *

 **And there you have it! Lapis and Jasper have returned, but is it for the better?**

 **I understand that this update may be be overshadowed by Malachite finally returning in canon this Thursday. My version is obviously going to be much different than canon, but take it as you all will. Anyway, this is likely the last chapter I'll be posting for a while, at least until school lets out. And I'd like to ask, does anyone else like the idea of one of the DinoGems (Topazorn) being able to easily communicate with the main characters? I have no plans to give the other DinoGems voices, so cool down. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**

 **A/N: The chapters following this one(whenever they may come out) will most likely detail how the Homeworld Gems adapt to life with the Crystal Gems, Steven, and the DinoGems, and then the whole Cluster arc will come into play. Cheers!**


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